Brothers in Arms: Recurrence
by Solid Shark
Summary: In the war between Earth and Space, Natural and Coordinator, a loyal soldier, a remnant of a forgotten experiment, and an ordinary college student change the entire face of the conflict, beginning at a place called Heliopolis. Re-write of Brothers in Arms
1. Chapter I: A Man's Path, A Beastly Path

I don't own anything except Kevin Walker and Invictus

* * *

Lagrange Point 3, ZAFT _Nazca_-class Destroyer _Vesalius,_ Bridge, January 25th, C.E. 71

* * *

_Heliopolis Colony,_ Rau Le Creuset, white-coated soldier of the Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty, mused, gazing out the forward viewport. _Clever of the Earth Forces, I must admit. Using the site of the first military mobile suit experiments for the development of their own new models..._ He smiled cynically. _One wonders just how massive a bribe they gave Orb for this._

Letting his smile fade, Le Creuset turned back to the group assembled behind him. "You all know the situation," he began. "Our operatives have confirmed that the Earth Alliance has constructed prototype mobile suits here, in 'neutral' territory. The exact legality of that arrangement, and how it affects the Homeland's future relations with Orb, is effectively irrelevant at this point. The fact is that these new prototypes, if allowed to reach operational status, will drastically alter the balance of power in this war."

Heads nodded all around; in particular, Athrun Zala, Yzak Joule, Nicol Amalfi, and Dearka Elsman displayed full cognizance of the implications. They were, after all, sons of PLANT Supreme Council members, and as such somewhat better informed about the strategic picture in general.

Not that Rusty McKenzie or Miguel Aiman were idiots, either. "Understood, Commander," the latter said. "...Do we know how close they are to completion?"

"According to our information, they're to be rolled out today," Le Creuset replied quietly. "The new warship, as well. In all probability, it'll take them several more weeks to work up to combat-ready status, but if we wait that long, they'll undoubtedly be much harder to engage. Besides," he added with a thin smile, "if we strike now, we have the opportunity to _capture_ them, thus obtaining both their power and their technology for ourselves."

The significance of that was lost on no one. ZAFT had so far maintained an edge over the Earth Alliance by virtue of superior technology, despite the disparity in numbers; if that advantage was lost, the entire war might be, as well.

_And after what happened at Junius Seven last year,_ Athrun thought bleakly, _they'll have gotten away with mass murder... among other things. I can see why this is so important. And yet... this risks bringing Orb into things._ His mind went back three years, remembering two young faces. _I don't want to bring this war to either of them._

"Commander," he asked carefully, "couldn't this be construed as an act of war against the Orb Union?"

Behind him, Yzak snorted, but Le Creuset listened gravely. "I understand your concerns, Athrun. But don't worry overmuch; the fact of the matter is that Orb, or at least a faction thereof, has violated their neutrality by aiding the Earth Forces in the development of these new weapons. They won't be able to make a very convincing argument once we have the proof in our hands. And," he added, raising a hand to forestall the next possible objection, "they shouldn't have any real grievance against us. If, that is, you stick to the plan and the rules of engagement. Your targets are _only_ the Morgenröte facility and its surrounding defenses."

Athrun nodded, reassured. "Understood, Commander."

"Good. Now," Le Creuset went on, indicating the display table the group surrounded, "your objectives are simple. Athrun, you and your fellow redcoats will infiltrate the Morgenröte mobile suit factory, and seize the new prototypes; once that's done, break out of the colony and return immediately. Miguel," he nodded to the senior greencoat, "you, Olor, and Matthew will fly cover, disabling the facility's defenses. The rest of you will plant demolition packs at key locations around the new warship's harbor, and commit general sabotage of the factory as a whole." He smiled again. "Capturing the new prototypes is the top priority, but preventing them from building any more is also of high value."

Dearka raised a hand. "Anything unexpected we should be worrying about, Sir? I mean, they've managed to create these advanced models without our forces hearing anything about it till now, so..."

Behind them, Captain Fredrik Ades turned in his chair. "A valid point, Commander," he remarked. "After all, ten years ago..."

"Yes," Le Creuset acknowledged, "I know. And you should, indeed, be on your guard, Dearka. Even disregarding past history, Morgenröte _is_ currently under the control of the Sahaku family. With the fall of the Onishi line several years ago, they are probably the most... devious of the Five Noble Families."

Also suspected of seeking world domination, as Athrun knew well. _Yeah, better be careful. Kevin spoke well of them, but I know Kira wasn't quite so sure... and Kira always did have better instincts about people._

Le Creuset glanced over the group one more time, then nodded sharply. "If there are no more questions, move out. We have only hours to complete this operation. Good luck to you all."

* * *

Heliopolis Colony, Park

* * *

"_...I'm currently standing only a kilometer from the frontlines, and the sound of combat is becoming less intense. Official reports suggest that ZAFT's offensive is beginning to wear down, with an Earth Alliance counterattack driving them back. Unofficial information, however, suggests that Kaohsiung spaceport is, in fact, on the verge of falling to enemy forces..."_

"_...With no method yet found for locating, let alone neutralizing, the N-jammers beneath Earth's surface, the energy crisis continues unabated. Recent famine in Southern Africa is leading many to..."_

"Shut that stupid thing off, Kira," the sandy-haired, black-clad youth said wearily. "You know the news from Earth is always bad these days, right?"

Brown-haired, amethyst-eyed Kira Yamato closed down his laptop with a shrug. "Guess you're right, Kevin," he admitted. "Still, we shouldn't give up hope that easily, right? I mean, this war can't go on forever. Besides, it doesn't have anything to do with-"

_THUNK._

"Hey!" Kira protested, rubbing his head. "What was that for?" he went on, turning to look accusingly at the teen who'd just hit him over the head with a book. "Tolle..."

"Just trying to get your attention," Tolle Koenig said cheerfully, arm tucked around Miriallia Haw, his long-time girlfriend. "C'mon, you two look so gloomy, it's making _me_ depressed, too! Lighten up, before your faces freeze that way."

"So why didn't you hit _him?"_ Kira demanded, pointing at the youth in black.

"Because Kevin knows kung fu," Tolle replied patiently. "He'd knock me to the moon before his brain caught up with his reflexes."

Kevin Walker, otherwise known as the man in black -among other things- snorted, but didn't dispute the point. _Yeah, I know kung fu, buddy. And a whole lot of other things._ "I suppose there's a reason you're here, Tolle?" he said, sliding lazily off the bench on which he sprawled. "Or do you just feel like giving Kira a headache?"

"Ah, same ol', same ol'," Tolle answered with a shrug, and dug a computer disc out of his pocket. "Professor Kato must really like your work, Kira. He's been trying to get in touch with you all morning; another system analysis."

Kira rolled his eyes. "Again? I still haven't finished the last... Oh, forget it."

"Beats watching the news, doesn't it?" Miriallia interjected, speaking up at last. "That was about Kaohsiung, right? I heard they're under heavy attack right now..."

"Ahh, it'll be fine," Tolle said, waving a hand. "I know, Orb's pretty close to there, but we're still neutral, right? We don't have anything either side would want."

Considering that Orb was about as far from being a strategic location as was possible on Earth these days, and had no appreciable resources, Miriallia had to grant her boyfriend had a point. With the Earth Alliance and ZAFT so fixated on one another, there really wasn't any _reason_ for them to go after a neutral nation with no strategic value.

_Even with them being so close to Kaohsiung,_ Kira thought to himself. _That's kind of like shooting an ant while hunting grizzly..._

"Birdy!"

The group as a whole looked up, and Kira smiled as a green-feathered bird swooped down, coming to a rest on his shoulder. Not that it was really a bird, of course; on closer inspection, it was clearly a very clever mechanical construct. _Extremely_ clever, actually, in that it could fly as naturally as the real thing.

"Well," he said, climbing to his feet, "I guess we'd better get going." He shared a wry look with Kevin. "Sooner we get started on all this, the sooner the professor will finally leave me alone."

As the group started walking, heading for the nearest cab stop, Kira reached up to absently stroke Birdy. _Athrun really knew his stuff,_ Kevin thought, watching the motion. _Building something like that... Heh; bet he's already on the fast track for MMI or maybe even the Integrated Design Bureau by now..._

Of course, neither he nor Kira had seen their old friend in some three years, and Kevin doubted Athrun would recognize him if they met now. Back then, they'd all been average youngsters at a Copernicus prep school. Now... now Kevin, at least, was a very different individual.

Clad in black, from his surplus combat boots to the open leather jacket and tough leather gloves, the youth was also well known for wearing sunglasses even in the darkest night. Once twitted for it by his classmates, they'd long since gotten used to it... especially since even they sometimes found the sight of his unshielded eyes a little unnerving. A vivid jade, they literally glowed, visible even through his shades.

_Athrun would about have a heart attack,_ Kevin thought, with a small smile... one which quickly faded. _Especially if he knew... everything else. I hope he hasn't fallen into the wrong company out there..._

Reflexively, his hand twitched toward his thigh, only to find nothing there. Grimacing, he reached into his jacket, instead, and withdrew a rectangular package. "Old habits die hard," he said, apropos of nothing, and pulled a cigarette out of the pack.

Tolle glanced at him, and it was his turn to grimace. "Those things will kill you, y'know. And how in the world do you find those things up here? They're not exactly standard cargo on the supply shuttles from Orb."

"I have my ways, comrade," Kevin replied mysteriously, and lit up. "They calm my nerves, what can I say? And you know as well as anybody that I'm immune to lung cancer."

Miriallia chuckled. "He has you there, Tolle. But," she added, giving Kevin a mock-stern look, "when we get to the lab, either put that thing out or sit under an air return, got it?"

He gave her a mock salute, prompting a laugh from Kira and Tolle. "As you command, Ma'am."

* * *

Outside Heliopolis Colony, _Marseilles III_-class Transport Ship, Bridge

* * *

"Well, here we are," the grizzled old captain mused. "Heliopolis... Ha. Who'd have thought this old girl's final mission would be so important, eh, Lieutenant?"

"It's not half bad for a rust-bucket of a transport," Lieutenant Mu La Flaga, Earth Alliance Forces Möbius Zero Corps, agreed. "Even if nobody knows about it but us," he added, glancing at the five blue-clad individuals on the bridge with them.

They looked like mechanics, dressed in those coveralls, but Mu and the captain knew better. They were the vanguard, the soon-to-be spearhead of the Earth Alliance's advance. The most skilled pilots that could be culled from the squadrons of standard Möbius mobile armors, specially trained for their new duties; they would give ZAFT a very nasty surprise in the near future.

_I'd feel jealous,_ Mu mused, _except that not one of them can do what _I_ can do._

With an audible thud, the transport came to rest in Heliopolis' harbor, and the five pilots saluted as one. "If you'll excuse us, Captain?" the senior pilot asked.

"Of course," he replied, waving a hand. "You've permission to disembark. And good luck."

"You sure they're up to this?" Mu asked softly, as the group departed. "I know how they've tested in the simulators, but still..."

"I know," the captain said with a nod. "It's still not the same as reality, and they still have plenty of rough edges. But they're the best, Lieutenant. Or at least, the best other than you," he added with a grin. "And if we sent _you,_ the whole thing would be exposed in a heartbeat, eh, Hawk of Endymion?"

Mu had to concede _that_ point. The last of the Möbius Zero pilots, sole survivor of the Battle of Endymion... There was, after all, a reason he'd gotten the moniker "Hawk of Endymion", and all too many people were well aware of it. All of which meant that assigning _him_ to one of the new machines wouldn't be very good for security.

_At least I can help escort them, though. And maybe..._ He shook himself. "Any ZAFT activity in the area?" he asked aloud.

The captain shrugged. "Two ships, but I'm not worried. Heliopolis belongs to Orb; ZAFT wouldn't dare court an incident with them when they're in the midst of fighting _us_ off."

Mu snorted. "The whole 'neutral nation' business? Kinda hypocritical, since they're helping us with this... And just who do they think they're fooling? Considering the facilities we're using, it's a miracle ZAFT hasn't already discovered what we're up to."

"Come now, Lieutenant," the captain chided. "That program was scrapped a decade ago, and the last scion of the family behind it disappeared without a trace even before the Blockade. I doubt anyone outside the Sahaku family even realizes the facility still exists." He shook his head. "No, I don't think we've anything to worry about. And in two weeks, ZAFT will learn that, while we may be slow on the uptake, once we get moving we can be even more creative than they are."

* * *

Heliopolis, Downtown

* * *

A flash of red hair between them and the cab stop prompted a brief smirk from Kevin, which he quickly suppressed. _Cue tongue-tied Kira,_ he thought to himself. _Assuming he can bring himself to say anything at all, anyway._

Red-haired, blue-eyed Flay Allster was chatting with two other girls of her social circle... or, more precisely, trying _not_ to chat about a particular subject, it seemed. "Come on," one of them said. "You can tell us! Please?"

"It's nothing," Flay replied evasively glancing away. "Really, there's nothing..."

Miriallia hurried up to find out what was going on, while Tolle stretched and turned to Kira. "Haven't heard, eh?" he said slyly. "That Sai... I heard he sent her a letter." He grinned. "Guess you've got some competition, Kira Yamato!"

"Hey!" Kira replied, a little too quickly. "There's nothing going on at all! You're just reading too much into it!"

"Yeah, sure..."

_I'm with Tolle on this one,_ Kevin thought, rolling his eyes. _About the only people who _haven't_ noticed are probably Sai and Flay herself._

His amused thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a clearing throat behind him. "Excuse me," a woman's voice said, "but if you're not getting on, mind if _we_ get through?"

Kevin quickly stepped aside. "Not a problem," he replied, taking stock of the woman and her companions. "Sorry for the inconvenience."

The woman was slightly taller than Kevin, with night-black hair and sunglasses over eyes much like Kira's, and looked to be in her early twenties; she was accompanied by two men of around the same age, mostly nondescript save for the dark violet hair on one of them.

As they passed, the others ignored the trio completely... but Kevin continued to observe them carefully behind his shades. _Those aren't civilians, however they may dress,_ he noted to himself. _Too disciplined; and the guys are clearly her subordinates. Not Orb, either... Earth Forces, maybe? But what would Earth Forces people be doing at Heliopolis of all places? Unless... No, that can't be. Father shut all that down years ago..._

Lost in his musings, Kevin didn't notice Flay's group had also departed. "Hey, Kevin!" Kira called, sitting in the newly-arrived cab. "You're gonna be left behind!"

He twitched. "Right, right. I'm coming."

_And,_ Kevin thought, hopping into the cab, _I'm going to try and remind myself to mind my own business. The last thing I want is to be dragged into _another_ mess._

As the automated cab made its way down Heliopolis' streets to the college they attended, Kira glanced surreptitiously at his friend. He could tell Kevin had been preoccupied ever since the news from Kaohsiung had come in, and grown more so in the last few minutes, and he couldn't help but wonder why.

He knew more about Kevin's history than many, of course. Miriallia and Tolle had first met him when he turned up a year previously, and long since simply concluded that he was an eccentric with a flair for martial arts and weaponry... but Kira had known him most of his life, from the days when they were kids in the lunar city of Copernicus.

_What did they do to you, Kevin?_ he wondered, not for the first time. He hadn't missed Kevin's reflexive twitch a few minutes before, and while Kira had no military training himself, he'd seen enough of Kevin over the past year to recognize it for what it was.

What, exactly, had happened to Kevin in the two years between their parting at Copernicus and the Yamato family taking him in at Heliopolis, Kira didn't know. Kevin had admitted to him that certain news reports regarding Blue Cosmos attacks during that time had pertained to him, but that didn't explain certain... anomalies. They'd been rooming together ever since Kevin's arrival at the colony, and Kira had frequently heard Kevin muttering in his sleep during the first couple months, asking questions of persons unknown and uttering apparent nonsense phrases.

Not to mention that, while Kevin had been both an avid practitioner of Xing-yi kung fu and something of a knife enthusiast in years past, Kira didn't remember him as being particularly paranoid or much of a gunman... or wary of ZAFT.

_I wish I could ask Athrun about this,_ Kira thought with an inward sigh. _Maybe... No, come to think of it, he always hated war; he probably wouldn't have much better luck figuring out Kevin than I have._

As though sensing his friend's thoughts, Kevin caught Kira's eye, and flashed him a brief, reassuring grin. And reassuring it was; much as Kevin had changed since they'd last known each other, at least his ready grin was still around.

"Nothing to worry about, Kira," Kevin said in a low voice; a perhaps unnecessary precaution, as Miriallia was watching the road and Tolle had the look of someone plotting some kind of prank. "Orb's determinedly neutral... and so am I, these days. Besides," he added, with a secretive smile Kira found obscurely infuriating, "there's a few things the rest of the world doesn't know, that might come in handy in a pinch."

Kira glared at him, successfully distracted from the darker musings. "Are you _ever_ gonna explain that stuff, Kevin? You've said all those 'insider' things over the years, and you _still _won't say how you know all that."

"It is my business to know such things," Kevin intoned... and spoiled the effect with another grin. "Truth is, Kira, my dad was... kind of a bigwig in Morgenröte, you might say. When you spend your summers around somebody like that, you pick up on a lot of things that-"

"Hey, Kira," Tolle interrupted, oblivious to -or perhaps, from the grin on his face, just not caring about- the existing exchange, "you gonna ask Sai about it?"

Kira blinked, taken aback by the abrupt change of subject. "About what- Hey! That's none of your business!" he protested, belatedly realizing what the other teen meant. "And even if it was, there's nothing going on!"

Tolle just grinned all the wider. "Yeah, sure there isn't. C'mon, Kira, we're not all as blind and deaf as Kevin. And there's nothing wrong with it. You've got a rival now, sure, but..."

"Will you just drop it?" Kira replied irritably, looking away to hide a blush. "You're being a pest, Tolle; and it's none of your business anyway!"

"Objection," Kevin interjected, smiling faintly. "I'm not blind and deaf, Tolle. I probably noticed even before-"

Kira's book bag bashed him in the side of the head, shutting him up even more thoroughly than the impressive glare Kira fired at him. "Not you too," he groused. "Of all the..."

To his credit, Kevin took the hint. Kira suspected it was more the glare than the whacking -he had a shrewd notion Kevin had barely even felt it- but it still made him feel better.

Further teasing was, to his vast relief, interrupted by their arrival at the gates to the Morgenröte facility wherein the college was situated. "I.D.s, guys," Miriallia reminded them, being closest to the card reader.

The others passed over theirs; and as they did, Kira snuck a peek at Kevin's, noticing for the first time that his was slightly different from the usual, bearing some kind of code he didn't recognize. _Explains why nobody notices the hardware in his jacket; I always wondered about that. Must be thanks to his dad... whoever he was._

Not that it mattered much any longer; Kira's parents had taken Kevin in because Kevin's own parents had died several years prior.

"Well," Miriallia commented, handing back the ID cards, "back to work, huh, guys?"

"Yeah," Kira said with a sigh. "Another analysis... and probably another one after that." He shook his head. "I wonder what they've got us doing all this stuff for, anyway? Exoskeletal engineering and programming... You'd think the old factory here was back up and running or something."

Beside him, unnoticed, Kevin's face twitched in sudden surmise.

* * *

Heliopolis, Morgenröte College, Laboratory

* * *

Kevin Walker, ordinary college student, followed his friends into the lab where much of their practical studies had been taking place of late. Unlike those others, though, his attitude was far from casual, however he may have looked on the outside. For he was not, in fact, precisely an "ordinary" college student.

_Far from it, in fact,_ he thought to himself. _After what happened three years ago... And now here I am, back in the _other_ "playground" of my childhood, at a time when things are starting to look a bit strange all around._

"There you are, Kira," a blonde-haired young man with orange-tinted glasses said, glancing up from the exoskeleton he was tinkering with. "Did you know Professor Kato's been looking for you?" Sai Argyle went on, holding up a computer disk.

Kira sighed. "Yeah, yeah, Tolle already told me." He took the disk, shaking his head in resignation.

Black-haired Kuzzey Buskirk looked at him curiously. "He's been having you do a lot of that stuff lately, Kira. Just what's so important?"

"Beats me," Kira said with a shrug. "It's just a programming analysis, just like the last one. Looks like... yeah, more data on manipulator hydraulic settings. Dunno why there's so many of these lately, though."

He was about to say more, but Tolle chose that moment to grab him by the neck. "Well? Aren't you gonna ask about that letter, Kira?" he said teasingly.

"Let go!"

Kevin lost interest about then; he'd been something of a prankster in his younger days, but there were some things too immature even for him. _Besides, there's something... no, someone..._

He was beginning to examine the room with more than his eyes and ears; he'd realized they weren't alone, and the heretofore silent individual had thoroughly caught his attention. Blonde, with golden eyes, the girl looked to be about his own age... and she seemed somehow familiar to the sandy-haired youth.

Letting his bright jade eyes fall closed, Kevin reached out with another sense, one related to his unusual genetic heritage. Though none but his closest associates knew it, Kevin's lineage bore the latent genes of the zoanthropes, the semi-empathic, half-beast shapeshifters. His genes, however, were by no means latent, and he had long since learned to recognize non-zoanthropes by their aura, provided he knew them well enough.

And somehow, it seemed this girl, whose features did not reside in his memory, seemed to be one of them. She registered to Kevin's sixth sense... and not just faintly.

Kira, having managed to break free of Tolle with a minimum of embarrassing questions, glanced curiously at Kevin. He was, as far as he knew, one of exactly two people alive who knew Kevin's nature, and he dimly registered Kevin's mental probing. _What's he looking for?_ Kira wondered. _There's no one..._

Then his gaze drifted to the blonde by the door to Professor Kato's office, and his eyes widened. She, too, quite clearly sensed the psychic search, and looked considerably more surprised than Kira. Her gaze had gone almost instantly to the man in black, questions in her eyes.

_There's something weird going on here,_ Kira thought uneasily. _Do they know each other somehow?_ That seemed somehow unlikely; after all, most of Kevin's childhood had been spent around Kira and Athrun, with comparatively little time spent with his family in Orb. Moreover, Kira knew from experience Kevin's memory was eidetic, and he wasn't showing any signs of true recognition, despite his unease.

Then Kira caught sight of a glint of gold on the girl's right hand. A gold ring, with an emerald stone... and while he was no expert, and was two meters away, he was willing to bet that the stone was real, and that there were engraved initials on the setting.

It was, he thought, unlikely to be coincidence that she wore a ring identical to one he'd seen on Kevin's hand,

hidden beneath his perpetual gloves. Which reminded him of some things Kevin _had_ let slip about his experiences...

"_My memory is still a little fuzzy,"_ Kevin had admitted, late one night. _"I remember the three of us at Copernicus, but I don't remember much about home..."_

Kira almost said something then, but Sai spoke up first. "Hey, Kevin," he called. "Could you give me a hand with this? I need a third hand for some of this wiring."

The moment broken, Kevin shook himself, and moved over to the exoskeleton. "I'm on it," he said, showing no trace of his confusion of moments before.

There were still mysteries, Kevin knew. But he'd found peace at last on Heliopolis, and his past seemed to be a closed book now. He had no intention of jeopardizing that peace now.

The relics within his body were reminder enough of how hard-won that peace was.

* * *

_Vesalius,_ Bridge

* * *

"If everything is on schedule," Le Creuset murmured, "things should start happening in just a few moments."

"Yes, Sir," Ades concurred, and shook his head. "I still find it hard to believe just how brazen the Earth Forces are being here. Using a neutral nation as cover for the construction of these new weapons... Although I suppose the fact that they enlisted Orb's aid in the first place is something of a good sign. They must still be having problems bridging the technological gap."

"Indeed." Le Creuset smiled faintly, pulling himself over to the forward viewport. "They've always had a slight edge in energy weapon technology, but it appears Orb still surpasses them in exoskeletal engineering and computers systems." He frowned thoughtfully behind his mask. "That does, however, suggest several interesting possibilities. Their mobile suit development program was supposedly shut down after the failure of the original prototype, yet the existence of these new units suggests some clandestine research has still been ongoing."

Ades nodded silently. He was not exactly brilliant, and knew it, but he wasn't stupid either. Morgenröte's Heliopolis facility had been the first to engage in research on the military applications of mobile suits, under the aegis of John Onishi, baron of one of the Five Noble Families... but the project had been abandoned long since, after the single prototype produced proved impractical. That, at least, was the official story.

The fact that the Earth Alliance, in cooperation with Orb, had succeeded in developing such advanced mobile suits less than a year after the outbreak of war suggested that was not quite accurate. Ades -and, for that matter, Rau Le Creuset- suspected at least the research side had remained active in the decade since, with the Sahaku family picking up where Onishi left off upon his death.

"Look on the bright side, Captain," an electronic-tinged voice interjected. "At least they can't have made enough Gundanium for that many mobile suits."

Ades tensed involuntarily, and was unsurprised to see his bridge crew doing much the same collectively. "You have a point there," he admitted, turning to face the new arrival. "But depending on just how effective these machines are, that may be small comfort."

The owner of the odd voice was enough to unnerve just about anyone, by his own admission. Clad in a black powered exoskeleton, wearing a sheathed ninjato on his back, his face was concealed behind a featureless helmet. Origins unknown but rumored to be somewhat unsavory, the armored assassin Invictus was Rau Le Creuset's personal hatchetman, acting as his private agent. As far as Ades knew, only Le Creuset himself had ever seen the man's face, and he was just as glad of it.

He, for one, more than half believed the rumors connecting Invictus to a defunct project no one in ZAFT liked to think about much.

"Ades is right, Invictus," Le Creuset said presently, turning to his agent. "But you do have a point. Fortunately for us, that alloy is effectively impossible to mass produce." He beckoned the assassin closer. "You have news?" he said, voice nearly inaudible.

"Affirm," Invictus replied, just as softly. "We may have an additional complication." The helmet turned toward the colony outside the viewport. "I believe _he_ is there, Commander."

Behind his mask, Le Creuset's eyebrows went up. "Then he _is_ alive? Interesting... Let us hope, then, that he's content to remain out of sight; there's no time to warn our infiltration unit. In fact..." He glanced at his watch. "It's time. Ades," he called, "give the order. We're moving out!"

* * *

_Marseilles III_-class Transport, Bridge

* * *

Approximately twenty seconds after the first ZGMF-1017 GINN rocketed out from _Vesalius_' catapult, alarms went off on the transport's bridge, startling the captain out of a well-deserved nap; and, had there been gravity present, Mu La Flaga would've spilled coffee all over himself.

"Report!" the captain barked, something resembling unease already congealing in his gut.

"Message from Heliopolis Control, Captain," his comm officer replied crisply. "Two ZAFT ships have entered Heliopolis nearspace; looks like… yes, they're the _Nazca_ and _Laurasia_ we spotted earlier." He paused, listening intently. "They've ignored warnings to stand clear and are continuing to close with the colony, Captain."

Mu swore under his breath. _Damn. So much for "neutrality"; guess somebody in ZAFT figured that maintaining official neutrality while building mobile suits for our side is hypocrisy. But the question is…_

He looked up sharply. "Don't tell me they're just cruising in without a care in the world. Have they deployed mobile suits yet?"

"Affirmative," the junior lieutenant replied. "Three… no, four GINNs. It looks like two of them are heading into the colony proper. The other two…" He swallowed audibly. "Sir, I think they know _we're_ here, too."

"Either they've got fiendishly good intelligence analysts over there," the captain said, face gone pale, "or someone on our side is a double agent. Lieutenant La Flaga-"

Mu merely grunted, already pulling himself toward the hatch. "They don't know everything, Captain," he said grimly. "I don't think so, anyway… Look, Captain, you should stay out of this. This rust-bucket isn't going to be much use in a fight. Try to get clear, and have Luke and Gail board their Möbiuses. Don't deploy them until I give the word, but have them ready."

"Right away." The transport's captain nominally outranked the pilot, but he was a mere cargo hauler; he'd never been in combat, and it had been a long time since he'd participated in the sort of drills a warship captain took for granted.

Under the circumstances, he was only too grateful to follow a lieutenant's orders, if it meant getting out of this mess alive.

Before Mu could quite exit the hatch, the comm officer spoke up again, voice taut with tension. "Update from Heliopolis Control, Captain," he said hoarsely. "Explosions reported within the Morgenröte facility. Apparently, it's already been infiltrated."

_Then they're after the new mobile suits._ Mu snorted to himself. _Not that there was ever any doubt. There's no other reason for ZAFT to risk such a massive diplomatic incident with Orb. But if they've actually got people on the ground… Damn. If they actually _capture_ those machines, we'll be in a hell of a lot of trouble._

_I guess it's time to see if your skills haven't gotten rusty since the Grimaldi Front, eh, Hawk of Endymion?_

_

* * *

_

Morgenröte, Lab

* * *

Afterwards, Kevin would never be sure if the rumbling through the floor was what alerted him, or if it was his long-dormant battle instincts that warned him a split second before that.

Either way, he knew that moment heralded the end of the tiger's long sleep, and his return the world he'd hoped he'd left behind.

The source of the warning for his friends, though, was quite literally as hard to miss as a bomb going off, introduced as it was by a thunderous shock that shook the walls and floor, nearly knocking Tolle -currently strapped into the exoskeleton- clear off his feet.

Kevin was at his side instantly, despite having been helping Kira with programming on the other side of the room just a moment before, and steadied the heavy machine with an ease that belied his lean build. "What the hell was that?!" Tolle demanded, heedless of his own brief peril. "Some kind of construction accident?!"

"Felt too big for that," Sai answered, reaching for the exoskeleton's fasteners. "Whatever it was, we'd better go and find out; if something went wrong at the port, or maybe in Environmental..."

Kira, glancing at the blonde girl, shivered. Any kind of disaster in space was by definition bad; one that involved the colony's structural integrity or life support was bad squared. _Or maybe cubed,_ he thought. _But whatever. Sai's right._

The girl, he noticed, was already heading for the door to the emergency stairs, and he followed after her; but before either of them could reach it, Kevin was there. "That was no accident," he stated... and slammed a booted foot into the door, propelling it out into the stairwell. "In fact," he added, seemingly oblivious to the looks he was getting for the display of strength, "that was a bomb. A big one."

"A bomb?!" Kuzzey repeated, voice a little shrill. "But... but we're a neutral colony! Who'd be attacking _us?!"_

Kevin shook his head wordlessly, and led the way into the stairwell, just as another shock ran through the building, and distant cracking noises began to reach their ears. Of them all, he -and, though he did not realize it, the blonde girl- knew what those sounds were, but chose not to mention it. _Gunfire,_ he thought grimly. _And I know those guns._

"Doesn't anyone know what's going on?" Miriallia demanded, as they entered the shaft.

"There's an alert from the port," one of the college faculty answered, coming down from an upper floor. "Two ZAFT ships were seen entering the vicinity, and apparently mobile suits have entered the colony."

"Mobile suits?!" Tolle repeated. "But that means-!"

"Yeah," the teacher confirmed with a nod. "But that doesn't matter! We've got to get out of here, right now! They're heading right for this complex!"

Sai nodded hastily, and began to lead the others in the teacher's wake... but Kira heard the blonde girl gasp, and saw Kevin's eyes narrow with sudden surmise, before the two abruptly turned and dashed through another door, as if by agreement.

"Hey!" he called after them. "Where do you think you're going?! Wait!"

The girl ignored him, hurrying on without a word, but Kevin turned his head briefly. "There's something I need to see!" he called back. "I may know what they're after!"

Those words confused Kira; the reaction from the girl was more pronounced. She actually stumbled, turning to look at the black-clad youth in something akin to shock. "Kevin?!" she burst out, visibly stunned. "But that's-!"

Kira could vaguely hear Tolle calling for them all to come back, but the girl's strange reaction, and Kevin's obvious unease, made him hesitate. _This is nuts. Heliopolis is under attack, mobile suits are heading this way, that girl looks like she's seen a ghost, and Kevin's suddenly playing Secret Agent Man. We should be getting out of-_

His thoughts were interrupted with brutal suddenness by the blast that ripped through the wall to his right, slamming him into the opposite wall. "Ugh!"

The impact left Kira dazed. He'd never been flung into a wall with quite such force before, and the explosion itself left his ears ringing... as well as bringing down a section of the ceiling. Going back was no longer an option, with debris blocking the path back toward the exit.

Kevin's first instinct was to go to his friend's aid, regardless of his own objective, but the girl's startled exclamation brought him up short. His bright jades eyes, glowing behind his shades, snapped over to her. _How the hell does she know my name?_ "What is it, Miss?" he asked aloud, eyes narrowing.

"What is it?!" she repeated incredulously. "Kevin, you're dead! I... I watched you die! How can you- And what's with this 'Miss'?" she demanded. "You know damn well who I am, Kevin!" The look on her face was one of shock mixed now with annoyance, as if he'd somehow offended her.

Kevin shook his head. _I know she seems familiar somehow, but still... _"Look, Miss, I really don't have the least idea who you are. And frankly, I don't have time to debate it with you; I know what those ZAFT bastards are after, and this place is going to be blown straight to hell before long."

Turning away, he started to head back to Kira's aid, but the girl caught his arm. "Now just wait a minute!" she snapped. "You're not going to try telling me you're not Kevin Walker, are you? Because-!"

Another explosion, this one from farther away, interrupted her, and Kevin took the opportunity to pull free, surprising her with his strength. _I don't have time for this,_ he thought grimly, and darted over to Kira's side. _When all this over, sure. But not when the whole damn world is blowing up around us._

Reaching out a hand, he hauled Kira to his feet. "You okay, tovarisch?"

"Y-yeah," Kira replied groggily. He shook his head furiously to clear it. "My head hurts a little and my ears are ringing, but that's all... But Kevin, what do we do now?" He pointed back the way they'd come. "The escape route's blocked off!"

Smiling grimly, Kevin reached into his jacket, and withdrew a battered-looking Colt Single Action Army revolver. "That's not the only way out of here, Kira. There'll be shelters in the factory itself, and I've got an escape plan of my own... assuming things are still as I remember them."

"I hope you're right." Kira shook his head again, and straightened. He failed to share his friend's aplomb; Kevin might be familiar with bombs going off all around him, but he, for one, was just a civilian.

The girl, meanwhile, was getting increasingly impatient. She was shocked by the sandy-haired youth's existence, furious that he seemed to be pretending not to know her… and, deep down, frightened at everything that was going on. She'd come here to investigate a rumor, and now it looked like there was a very good chance she was going to die in the next few minutes.

_But,_ she thought furiously, _if I am, I'm at least going to do what I came here for, and find the truth about what Father's been up to!_

"Do what you want," she snapped at the boys. "But _I'm_ in a hurry!" Whirling, the blonde girl raced down the corridor.

"That's insane," Kevin remarked, blinking.

"Forget that, we've got to go after her!" It was Kira's turn to grab Kevin's arm, and this time Kevin didn't resist.

Instead, he nodded, brandishing the revolver, and the pair took off in the girl's wake.

* * *

Morgenröte, Factory Interior

* * *

_Everything's going as planned for now, I guess,_ Athrun Zala thought, pressing his back against the corridor wall. _And no more doubts about the validity of the mission. New mobile suits, a new warship… Damn. If Kevin saw this, he'd go ballistic. I think._

That was, perhaps, his one lingering concern. Kira he was sure was safely elsewhere; possibly in the PLANTs, for all he knew. Kevin, on the other hand… If he'd been who Athrun was starting to think he was, and was still alive, he could well be on Heliopolis. No friend to the Earth Forces, no doubt, but very possibly present nonetheless.

_Forget it,_ he ordered himself sternly. _If he's here, he's smart enough to stay away from the fighting. If he's not, there's nothing to worry about at all. Either way, there's no time to worry about that._

"I think everything's going smoothly with the other guys," Rusty McKenzie opined breathlessly, joining him by the corner. "Sounds like the bombs hit the new warship on time, and from the enemy chatter I'm guessing Yzak, Dearka, and Nicol got to their targets okay."

"Good." Athrun thought back to the mission briefing, and nodded sharply. "That's three of the prototypes taken care of, then. We just have to secure the last two, and evac." He risked a glance around the corner, almost got a bullet through his faceplate for his trouble, and pulled back. "The main hangar should be straight down this corridor."

"Right where most of the resistance is," Rusty mused. "Cool." He lifted an eyebrow. "On three?"

"On _eight,"_ Athrun corrected, pulling a grenade from his equipment harness. "Five for the grenade, _then_ three for us. No sense getting shredded by our own bomb."

"Getting shredded, bad," the other redcoat said agreeably. "Now?"

In answer, Athrun pulled the pin, and hurled the grenade down the corridor. He was obscurely satisfied to hear a strangled, _"Son of a bitch!"_

Then it went off, and Athrun Zala took his first act of revenge for the Bloody Valentine Tragedy… and his mother.

* * *

Morgenröte, Corridor to Main Hangar

* * *

They'd almost reached what Kevin knew to be the facility's main hangar when it happened.

From a side door, mere meters away from the hatch leading into the main chamber, four figures in green ZAFT flightsuits burst into the corridor, carrying battle rifles. They'd just run into a serious pocket of resistance, and were on a hair trigger.

Kira, stranger though he might be to violence, reacted almost instantly, grabbing the girl and yanking her down to the floor.

"Let go of me, you jerk!" she gasped out, the impact knocking the wind out of her… but she made no move to get up, realizing what Kira had done, and why. "Those are-! Kevin!"

Kira, cringing against what he knew must be coming, glanced up, and saw that Kevin had not yet moved. He'd come to a halt, but seemed in no hurry to get out of the line of fire. "Are you crazy?! Kevin, get down-!"

It was possible that the ZAFT troopers would have recognized the trio for civilians, and gone on their way, had their leader not spotted Kevin's revolver. They'd just lost three of their buddies to Morgenröte security, but they might have retained the presence of mind not to accidentally gun down neutral teenagers.

The revolver, however, set off an instant reaction, one not at all mitigated by the adrenaline rush of combat. A weapon was in evidence, they'd just been under fire, and there was only one sensible option.

In the end, however, it would not have mattered whether they fired or not. The instant Kevin's optic nerves registered the presence of armed and probably hostile intruders, the only question became how many bodies would be left.

Kevin had not moved, because he could not. Behind his bright jade eyes, data flickered, status symbols, information on the ZAFT soldiers' equipment, and urgent commands from deep within his mind.

_**HOSTILES DETECTED, HOSTILES DETECTED, INITIATING COMBAT PROTOCOL ZERO-NINER-**_

_**No! Stop!**_

The command stymied the automatics for an instant, after which they responded with: _**THREAT IMMINENT. AUTOMATIC REACTIVATION PROTOCOLS IN PROGRESS. LIMITER RELEASE LEVEL TWO-**_

Kevin gritted his teeth, fighting the commands. He'd spent a full year keeping everything dormant; now was _not_ the time for this, and he would not let it do what it pleased now. Not after three years of forcing his control over it.

_**Disable automatic protocols,**_ he commanded forcefully. _**Stand down reactivation procedures!**_

_**THREAT IMMINENT,**_ it insisted. _**PROTOCOL-**_

_**To hell with protocol!**_ Trembling, his mind arguing with his other half at a speed faster than human thought, he fought for full control and cursed himself for not engaging in judicious hacking long ago.

Yet his other half had a point, and his friend -and the strange girl who claimed to know him- was in danger.

_**Limiter Release.**_

_**Level Four.**_

_**Execute.**_

_**Administer Janus.**_

_**Execute.**_

An infinitesimal pause. Then, _**LIMITER RELEASE LEVEL FOUR EXECUTED. ADMINISTERING JANUS NOW.**_

The entire inner argument took less than two seconds of real time. By the time the first of the four ZAFT greencoats had begun to level his rifle, the cold rush had already swept down through the youth's body, and the world begun to slow around him.

Kira, still looking up at his friend, stared as his stance suddenly changed, movements subtly altering in a way Kira thought he recognized from somewhere, but couldn't quite place.

Then Kevin Walker snapped completely out of his immobility, and charged straight at the ZAFT soldiers.

It was probably the last action they would've expected from a lone civilian armed only with a six-shot revolver. It was, by any normal standard, the height of insanity. Nonetheless, they were trained soldiers, and their reflexes reacted before their conscious minds, triggering off short bursts of gunfire at the foolhardy youth.

The staccato burst of lead prompted an involuntary scream from the girl, caused Kira to instinctively -and hopelessly- shield her, and accomplished exactly nothing else, for Kevin had already left the floor in a prodigious leap.

Only a handful of meters had separated the soldiers from the civilians in the first place. Kevin's leap crossed that distance faster than they'd counted on, and before a second burst could be fired, he was among them.

Sometime during the leap, he'd holstered his Colt. Now, landing right in front of the lead ZAFT trooper, his left hand shoved the barrel of the soldier's rifle skyward, while his slipped in, grabbed the rifle's stock, and pulled. The maneuver twisted the weapon out of the man's hands, sending it whirling upward, and then Kevin's knee was smashing up, catching him in the groin.

A second greencoat jabbed his rifle toward Kevin's face, but Kevin was riding Janus now. He sidestepped, spun to his right, and caught the first man's still-falling rifle by the barrel. Continuing the spin, he used the momentum to slam the weapon into the man's neck, breaking it and the rifle.

Even as he dropped with the boneless slump of the dead, the third soldier snapped his rifle around and triggered a three-round burst. The attack would've ripped Kevin's throat to shreds, but he was already moving again, head jerking just far enough to the left to let the bullets zip past, where they crashed into a wall and ricocheted away. Then, dodging a kick from the fourth man, Kevin lunged forward, flattened his right hand, and drove its edge into the man's left elbow.

The ZAFT soldier screamed as the joint shattered, his rifle dropped toward the floor. Kevin was already moving again, spinning clockwise on his right foot, his left leaving the floor in a brutal roundhouse kick. His heel connected the fourth man's helmet smashing him into a wall; he hit with a crunch, and slithered down to the metal floor, motionless.

While that body still fell, Kevin's hands blurred, darting into his jacket. When they came back out, his left slashed viciously at the third man -the one with the shattered elbow- and connected with his throat, and his right swung down to point at the first man, still gasping from the groin strike. The object in that hand emitted a thunderous _boom_ and a cloud of foul-smelling smoke, and the man jerked, gasped once more, and lay still.

Kevin stood alone now. One man was shot through the heart, another's trachea was crushed by the butt of the first's rifle. A third was limp against the wall, unconscious or dead, his skull badly fractured by the kick and the brutal impact with the wall. And the fourth now wore a flightsuit stained with red, both carotid arteries severed by the fighting knife Kevin had withdrawn from a sheath at the small of his back.

_**ENGAGEMENT CONCLUDED. ADMINISTERING RETRO. LIMITERS RESET TO LEVEL FIVE.**_

Kevin took a deep, shuddering breath, feeling the world return to its normal speed. "Poor bastards," he whispered, and knelt, wiping the red-stained knife on a flightsuit, before returning it to its sheath. Then he straightened once more, blew smoke from the Colt's barrel, and gave the weapon an affectionate twirl.

It took him a moment, what with his body still recovering from what he'd done to it, to realize Kira and their erstwhile companion were both staring at him.

Kira, at least, had known of Kevin's capacity for violence; in a way, that was what had brought them together in the first place, a decade earlier. The brutal efficiency with which he'd just killed four trained soldiers, and his clear disinterest in taking prisoners, was something new to him.

_And the way he moved… that wasn't normal. And that wasn't kung fu, either._

To the girl, the violence was just as shocking, but it also served to further confirm her original suspicions about the teen. Unlike Kira, she _had_ seen those moves before, or at least the basis of them. She knew them herself, though her proficiency with them did not even come close to what she'd just witnessed.

_It's Kevin,_ she thought, stunned. _It has to be. But how? Two years ago, he…_ Anger flared again. _And why is he acting like he doesn't even know me?!_

There was still not even a flicker of recognition in the deadly youth's body, though, and she knew there was no time to confront him about his past.

"We've got to get moving," she said brusquely, and almost absently hauled Kira to his feet as she rose. "There's bound to be more of them."

Kevin nodded. "If they're following ZAFT procedure… and if they're being this brazen, I'd take that as a given." Turning, he raised the revolver again, pointed it down the hall, and shot the door latch.

* * *

Morgenröte, Main Hangar

* * *

Lieutenant Murrue Ramius, Earth Alliance Forces, swore as the first hail of bullets erupted from the hangar's floor-level maintenance access, and ducked behind part of a mobile suit leg. She'd known it was coming soon; the grenade that blew through the maintenance hatch a few minutes before had been plenty of warning. That didn't make it any more welcome, however.

_At least a G-weapon makes for good cover,_ she thought grimly, _even with phase-shift down._

"We've got incoming!" Ensign Jake Rainer shouted unnecessarily, crouched atop GAT-X303 Aegis' prostrate form. "Five, maybe six hostiles!"

"Covering fire!" Murrue ordered, pausing to check her rifle's magazine one last time. "Keep their heads down!" Popping up from cover, she sent a five-round burst toward the incoming ZAFT soldiers.

Her fire was joined by four others; the only warm bodies she'd been able to round up who even knew which end of a rifle the bullet came out of. It wasn't much, and she knew it… but if ZAFT had already captured the other three prototypes, Aegis and GAT-X105 Strike had to be protected at all costs.

They would be the Earth Forces' only hope, with three G-weapons in the hands of the enemy.

Through the din of nearly a dozen crisscrossing streams of bullets, Murrue heard a cry of pain, cut off with brutal suddenness, and felt a flicker of hope as a green-suited enemy flew back, half a dozen holes through his torso. That hope turned to ashes a split second later, though; Lieutenant Josh Welker, firing from the cover of Strike's left foot, took a bullet to the forehead, most of his head vanishing into red mist even as his body fell to the floor.

Murrue swore bitterly, ducking down again. _Damn! My people are engineers, not riflemen; we can't keep this up!_

"Anything yet from Captain Bourne?" she shouted to Rainer, swapping out an empty magazine.

"Not since that first bomb went off!" Rainer yelled back. "I think we're on our own, Lieutenant!" He didn't have to add the obvious: that the continued silence suggested something very bad had happened to the senior officers of the new mobile assault ship.

_No help for it,_ Murrue thought grimly. _These machines are worth more to the war effort than our lives._

She was about to try for another shot, now that ZAFT soldiers had fully entered the hangar, when a sound from the catwalk above caught her attention. First the loud bark of a handgun, then a voice, barely audible over the cacophony of gunfire.

"_Father, I knew you betrayed us all!"_

* * *

The girl's cry of anguished fury brought Kevin Walker's full attention to her for the first time since the crisis began, and the mention of her father brought a tiny flicker of recognition to the forefront of his mind. _Her… father? Wait… I can almost…_

The fog that still clouded his recollections settled in once again before he could make the connection, and Kevin turned away, his gaze joining Kira's in staring at what occupied the factory's largest hangar. Once it would've been empty, or perhaps used to store shuttles and construction craft. Now, however…

"I knew it," Kevin whispered, bright jade eyes narrowing. "Sahaku… you've reactivated the facility. You idiots…"

Still resting in their transport racks were a pair of humanoid weapons, each over fifteen meters tall. They were of an advanced design unlike anything used by ZAFT, but Kevin recognized their ancestry from his own past, and new them for what they were: mobile suits. Mobile suits constructed in part from the one that had been built here a decade before.

Kevin's supposition stood confirmed. ZAFT had been so bold because they had very little choice. If these machines -and from the looks of it, at least two other machines had once been here, as well- reached operational status, ZAFT's greatest advantage over the Earth Alliance would disappear. With mobile suits in the hands of the Earth Forces, there was a very good chance of the balance of power shifting radically.

Kira's thoughts were far less analytical than Kevin's. "Mobile suits…? But why? What the hell are mobile suits doing on _Heliopolis,_ of all places?"

"A very large bribe, I'd guess," Kevin replied, hand tensing unconsciously on the wooden grips of his revolver. "Or maybe a grand scheme on Sahaku's part; it's in their character. Either way, it does make a certain degree of sense. The original purpose of this facility _was_ mobile suit development. I know, I was here…"

_Sahaku,_ the girl thought bitterly, only barely aware of the conversation. _Of course. Damn them! We're trying so hard to stay _out_ of this war, and they do _this?!_ And what did Father know about this?! There's no _way_ he didn't know _anything_ about it! He knew as well as anyone about-_

A burst of gunfire from below almost took Kira's head off, as bullets ricocheted off the catwalk's railing. With all the fighting on the hangar's floor, they'd all more or less tuned it out, and almost paid for their inattention with their lives.

Kira, inexperienced as he was with mass violence, wasn't stupid. "Come on!" he shouted, grabbing the girl's hand. "We've got to get to the shelters! It's too dangerous here!"

"Da," Kevin agreed, and whirled around. "Kira, get yourself and the girl out of here!"

"Huh? But wait, Kevin!" Kira protested. "You're coming too!"

"No, I'm not," Kevin countered, already off and running in the opposite direction. "I've got my own way out of here! Get going!"

"But-!" Kira swallowed a curse. Kevin was one of the best friends he'd ever had, but when he made up his mind, changing it generally required a sledgehammer… and it was too late, anyway. The way Kevin was moving, he'd never catch up.

And Kevin was right about one thing: this was no place for the girl.

"Fine, then, but be careful!" Kira shouted. "Don't get killed, got it?!" Seeing a wave from Kevin, he turned back toward the nearest block of shelters, at which point the ran into a snag in his place.

"Kevin!" the girl screamed, struggling now to free her arm from Kira's grasp. "Where are you going?! _Kevin!"_

"Don't be an idiot!" Kevin yelled back, pausing for an instant. "If you really do know anything about me, then you know damn well what I'm about to try would kill you!"

Her eyes widened, both at the uncharacteristic curse -she knew he seldom swore in English- and at the implications of his warning. "What- No! That's crazy! Get back here, Kevin! I-!"

But Kira was dragging her back now, displaying a surprising degree of strength himself. "Come on!" he urged. "We've gotta get out of here! He can take care of himself!"

She shook her head violently. "You don't understand! Kevin- he's going to use-!"

"Come _on!"_ He tightened his grip, and almost glared at her. "We don't have _time_ for this, and you saw what he did a couple minutes ago. I don't know who you are or what you know about Kevin, but _I_ know he can take care of himself."

Better than Kira had realized, in fact. He didn't know how Kevin had done what he'd done to those soldiers, but it had convinced him that whatever Kevin was up to now, he knew _exactly_ what he was doing.

He only hoped that his own escape plans were as sound.

* * *

Morgenröte, Special Access Section

* * *

_I have got to be crazy,_ Kevin Walker thought, shoulder-charging through a door and rushing into another section of the factory. _Even if this works -even if they haven't scrapped the prototype since ten years ago- there's a good chance this won't work. But still… I have no choice._

This section of the facility was older than the rest, predating both the college labs and the new mobile suit manufacturing facilities. Kevin had not walked these halls in the better part of a decade, but he still remembered them well… and they were critical to his own escape plans. If he was wrong about the Sahakus, there was a good chance he wasn't getting out of here alive.

Pounding down a corridor, Kevin allowed himself a burst of speed he wouldn't have dared show to Kira, and his mind turned back to the girl they'd met here. _She knew me,_ he mused. _I don't know how, but she must have, if she understood what I said; that's the only way she could've connected me with Dad's old project. But…_

Kevin shook his head angrily. _Those bastards! Three years it's been, and still their experiments cloud my mind. And now their allies have come to destroy my last sanctuary… They'll pay for this. Oh, yes, they'll pay. When I find what I'm looking for, they'll wish they hadn't brought me back out of retirement. Not that they'll live long enough to truly regret it._

Many traits could be said to define Kevin Walker. Perhaps the most pertinent, under these circumstances, was a healthy capacity for vengeance.

Rounding a corner at breakneck speed, Kevin's eyes swept down the corridor, and he skidded to a halt before the door he'd been looking for. It simply said, _Director,_ but he knew it was what he sought.

He first tried the knob, discovering without surprise that it was locked; considering that armed hostiles were in the facility, it would've been astonishing were it otherwise. Nor, however, did it deter him. Tensing his muscles, he grasped the knob, twisted slightly, and jerked.

Kevin was nearly shot the instant he walked into the office, but he'd anticipated it, and arranged for his head not to be where the other person expected it to be. "You know, Mina," he said calmly, stepping fully into the room, "I realize you're going to need a new door jam, but I'd think that minor next to everything else that's going on right now."

As he'd expected, there was no second shot. Sable-haired, dressed in flowing purple, Rondo Mina Sahaku's scarlet eyes widened as the youth's voice registered. The face had changed since last they'd met, but she still knew that voice… and, now that she thought about it, the easy grin.

Which were both, of course, impossible. Except that they were there anyway.

"Kevin? You're alive?"

Even as Mina said it, she recognized the obviousness of the statement, and Kevin himself snorted in amusement. "I've been living under your nose for a year now, and you've only just noticed? Yes, Mina, I'm alive. Yes, there are reasons I haven't admitted it till now. And no, I don't have time to explain everything. As you've probably noticed, we're under attack."

"True," Mina admitted, all business now; it wasn't the first time Kevin had reappeared after a mysterious absence, and there really were more pressing matters. "Someone must've infiltrated and learned of the G-weapons. Evidently, our security wasn't as tight as we thought; though even so, I wouldn't have expected ZAFT to be this brazen." She glanced out the window behind her desk, overlooking a section of the factory. "So much for neutrality."

"Your own fault," Kevin said coldly, his pleasure at seeing an old friend again buried beneath his anger. "What were you thinking? Never mind," he said, before she could reply. "Your family's agenda… Forget it. We can argue about this some other time. Where's Ghina?"

"Getting the Gold Frame out of here," Mina replied, nodding at the hangar beyond the window. "One of the prototypes we've been building for ourselves. We haven't been quite as trusting as the Earth Alliance believes," she added dryly. "We haven't gotten everything, but all the data we _have_ had access to has gone toward building mobile suits of our own, with the basic data being sent back to Orb for use at Headquarters."

"You've been busy." Kevin's voice warmed a trifle. He still disapproved of the affair in general, but it seemed as if the Sahaku family sneakiness was actually coming in handy for a change. "I hope Ghina gets clear; I don't particularly like him, but if he can get even one of the prototypes back to Orb, it'll be good for the country in general."

"Indeed." Mina gave him a speculative look. "Is that why _you're_ here, Kevin? Looking to use one of our mobile suits for your own escape? There's still the Blue and Red Frames…"

"No," he said flatly. "I actually wouldn't have come here at all if I didn't need a ride -I'm not ready for the homeland to learn I'm alive- but your prototypes don't interest me." He pulled off his shades, and his intense, glowing gaze met hers. "I have just one question, Mina.

"Where is Tallgeese?"

* * *

Morgenröte, Shelter Access

* * *

By the time they reached the bank of lift tubes leading down into the local shelter, the girl had stopped struggling, much to Kira's relief… but he was baffled by her obvious distress. Had it been because of the attack, he could've understood it; he was scared half witless himself. But the way she'd reacted to Kevin's presence…

_Somebody he knows?_ Kira wondered. _But he didn't recognize _her…_ then there's the ring to consider. It's just like his…_

"You should've let me go with him," the girl said, almost morosely, as they came up to one of the tubes. "I _needed_ to make sure…"

Kira shook his head. "It's too dangerous to stay here!" he said sharply. "Kevin's a soldier; we aren't. We'd be crazy to stick around here." He reached past her, tapped on the control panel next to one of the lift tubes, and brought up a status display.

The results prompted a curse under his breath. None of the tubes were active; they'd all been shut down from within the shelter itself. _Damn! What's going _on_ here?!_

The girl, meanwhile, shot him a glare. _Not a soldier! If you had any idea who you're dealing with, you'd… Argh! I don't have time for this! Kevin's going to get himself killed -again- and this jerk-!_

"Damn it!" Kira exploded, almost punching the controls in frustration; he added an especially satisfying Russian epithet Kevin had introduced him to, almost prompting a laugh from his companion despite the situation. "This is just…!" He broke off, took a breath, and reminded himself there was more than machinery involved. That in mind, he hit the control that would connect him with the shelter itself. "Hello? Is this shelter still active?"

The response was a while in coming, which made Kira distinctly uneasy; the distant explosion in the meantime didn't help… nor did the peculiar roaring noise off in the distance, resembling the howl of GINN verniers he'd heard earlier but far more intense. Another loud noise and he'd probably jump right out of his skin.

"…_The shelter is still intact,"_ a voice said at length, with obvious reluctance. Or, perhaps, simple fear; under the circumstances, it was hard to tell. _"But there's no room left. You're better off finding another shelter."_

Kira swore again. _There's no time for this! There's shooting going on in the main hangar already, and we're not that far from there; and the nearest shelter besides this is clear across there!_

"Look," he said desperately, "there's only two of us here. Can't you squeeze that much in, if only standing room?"

Another lengthy pause. Then, _"…Regs require all occupants be seated; these things double as escape pods, remember?"_ Another pause. _"All right, we can take one of you. I'm sorry, but that's the best we can do."_

He closed his eyes. _I'll have to find my own way out then; either brave the hangar, or try and find out where Kevin went. Still… That'll have to do._

"All right," Kira said aloud. "Thanks." As the tube came alive, its door sliding open, he grabbed the girl's shoulders before she could react. "Okay, in you go!"

Now the struggle returned to the girl, and she fought against his grip. "Wait! Don't do it! I still have to-!" She broke off. "And what about you?!" As much of a jerk as this guy was, she still didn't want him to die here; he was obviously a friend of Kevin, and there was something about him…

"I told you, it's too dangerous here!" Kira quickly stepped back, and hit the lift controls. "Don't worry about me, okay? I'll go over to the shelter on the other side."

"But-!" The door slid shut before she could finish, and the lift was already beginning to move. "Tell Kevin!" she shouted through it. "Tell Kevin that I'm Cagalli, you hear me?! Tell him-"

Her descent into the shelter cut her off, and Kira breathed a sigh of relief. _Now you'll be okay, at least,_ he thought. _That's one less thing to worry about. And don't worry, I'll let Kevin know. I don't know what's going on, but it looks like you know more than he does… and he'll want to know._

He leaned forward against the lift tube for a moment, catching his breath, and then turned back toward the hangar. It was going to be risky, but reaching the shelter on the opposite side of the factory seemed like his best hope for survival now.

_I only hope Kevin's okay. And Tolle and the others, too… Of course, _they_ probably did the smart thing and headed for a shelter right off._

* * *

Morgenröte, Mobile Suit Development Project Hangar

* * *

"You're out of your mind," Mina said, almost conversationally, as the pair of them walked out onto the catwalk overlooking the old, disused hangar. "That great white elephant? Come on, Kevin, you spent as much time here as did in Orb on holiday; you know damn well why Tallgeese was the only prototype built back then."

"This is true," Kevin admitted, absently twirling his revolver. "Also kinda irrelevant, under the circumstances. Needs must when the devil rides."

Standing before them, dusty, with its head literally tucked under its arm, was another mobile suit. Older than those in the main hangar, it was primarily white, with black trim; on its left arm was a round shield, and on its right shoulder was an old but powerful railgun. Its face was less human than those of the G-weapons, with a visor-type optical sensor, and its "helmet" looked like it belonged to a Roman legionnaire, complete with brush-like crest.

It had first been built over ten years before, and had been collecting dust for most of those years. The first foray into military mobile suit development, it had been Orb's attempt at a weapon to guarantee its neutrality.

Had a pilot been found that could handle it, the concept might even have worked, but ORB-00 Tallgeese had proven to be too complex, too expensive -its armor constructed of an alloy that could only be forged in outer space, and at fantastic cost- and, quite simply, too powerful. Some of those issues could've been corrected with a little experimentation, but the issues of complexity had seemed insoluble.

ZAFT had demonstrated the solution to that key issue, but though that could be combined with cheaper armor materials to produce a more practical mobile suit, Tallgeese itself had remained in storage even after the G-weapon project commenced, used only for research purposes. The complexity of its operations could now, possibly, be remedied, but one key factor remained to prevent a suitable pilot from being found for it.

_Until now,_ Kevin thought. _I hope._

"You realize this will probably kill you," Mina told him, looking at him soberly. "The test pilot passed out before full power was reached, and _he_ had simulator training on mobile suits. I know you were always a cut above average, even for one of us, but still…"

"Things have changed, Mina," Kevin said coolly, thinking back to the way he'd taken apart those ZAFT soldiers earlier… and the secret behind his abilities. "And I've had some simulator training myself, on ZAFT models. I'm rusty, but I should at least be able to move. What with its Gundanium armor, that's good enough to get me out of here alive."

She sighed. "Your funeral… again." Mina reached into a pocket, withdrew a small device on a ring, and tossed it to him. "Here. Tallgeese's activation key. If you actually think you can get that antique moving, I'll open the hangar; after that, it's all up to you. Ghina and I are getting out of here before it all explodes."

Kevin nodded gravely. "Thank you, Mina. And may I say, it's good to see you again." He turned toward Tallgeese's hatch, then paused. "Anything different from when I last saw this beast?"

Mina shrugged. "Antibeam coating on the shield and a beam saber stored on the inverse; Ghina wanted it at least theoretically capable of standing up to a G-weapon, in case he needed it for a quick getaway. Fortunately for him," she added wryly, "the Gold Frame was completed first. _You_ may be crazy enough to risk your neck this way, but neither of us are." She turned away. "I'll go open the hatch, then I'm getting out of here. Luck, Kevin."

"I don't believe in luck," he replied, and leapt through the hatch. _Only Fate,_ he added to himself, landing in front of the pilot's seat.

_And it would appear Fate's hand is taking part once again. Hm… I wonder how many deaths I'll have to endure this time?_

Settling into the seat, Kevin snapped the safety harness together, and turned to activating the mobile suit. Merely touching the main instrument panel gave him a flash of déjà vu; as a child, he'd sat in this very seat, gone through this very sequence…

And if the dust was any indication, no one had done it since.

A few flipped switches later, and main power came online; for all that Tallgeese was regarded as an antiquated boondoggle, Sahaku had at least kept its batteries at full charge, and the gauges read full on both propellant and railgun ammunition. That much, at least, satisfied him.

The computers, on the other hand, made Kevin groan in exasperation. "What a dinosaur," he moaned aloud. "Where's Kira when you need him? He's the instant-reprogramming whiz…"

No help for it now, though. There was no time to try updating the prehistoric software, and it was -barely- up to the first task he gave it. As the first hatch leading out into the colony interior yawned open, Kevin sent an order to the machine's arms.

Tallgeese had also been kept well-oiled, fortunately, and it was with only the briefest hesitation that its arms rose, lifting its head, and settled the vital appendage atop its neck with a solid, reassuring _click._ The action automatically activated its main cameras, and Kevin's forward displays lit up.

"Okay," he whispered, as another hatch groaned open, "this is it. Time to see if even I can handle this." He cleared his throat, preparing to speak to an imaginary flight controller, and grasped the throttle for Tallgeese's massive verniers. "Kevin Walker here. Tallgeese launching!"

Kevin shoved the handle to the firewall.

Had anyone been listening, the next sound to be heard from Tallgeese's cockpit would have been a scream.

* * *

Morgenröte, Main Hangar

* * *

_We're going to die,_ Murrue Ramius thought almost calmly, ripping off another burst at the space-suited invaders. She no longer worried about conserving ammunition; she was down to just Ensign Rainer and a petty officer whose name she didn't even know, and while there were only three enemy soldiers left, she'd learned the hard way that Coordinators were better shots than her people.

And that they still had grenades. Mike O'Donnell, a man she'd worked with from the very start of the G-weapon project, had bought it smothering a fragmentation grenade, protecting his comrades at the cost of his own life.

It looked now as if his sacrifice had only bought them a few more minutes.

At least those civilians had gotten clear. Murrue had been horrified to realize the trio she'd fired on earlier had just been teenagers, presumably having lost their way in all the confusion. She had never been happier to have _missed_ a target.

Small comfort now, though, since it looked like she wasn't going to have to worry about hitting a target ever again, and now she threw caution to the winds, standing to open up on the remaining ZAFT soldiers.

"Look out! Behind you!"

Acting purely on reflex, Murrue spun around, dropping flat on the Strike's skirt armor, and snapped up her rifle. Before she could think about it, she snapped off a three-round burst, and the greencoat who'd been drawing a bead on her back from the upper catwalk fell back with a cry, chest perforated.

Eyes wide, breath coming now in short gasps, Murrue turned to see who had warned her, and was surprised to spot one of the teens she'd almost shot earlier. "That kid again?" she wondered aloud. "What is he…?" She shook her head. It didn't matter now. "Get out of here!" she shouted up at him. "It's too dangerous!"

"I know!" the teen called back, already running toward the other end of the hangar. "I'm heading for the shelter over-"

An explosion cut him off, almost literally: a gout of flame erupted from the corridor he was heading for, and nearly blasted him clear off the catwalk. As it was, he stumbled back, one arm raised instinctively to protect his face from the flames.

"It's suicide to go that way!" Murrue shouted. "The shelter on the other side is still-"

"That shelter's already full!" he replied, coughing. "I…I…"

She closed her eyes. Bad enough that she and her fellow soldiers were doomed; now a civilian who'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time was going to join them in death… all because he'd been a little too selfless, if the absence of his companions was any indication.

_Unless…_

Murrue bit her lip. It was a long shot, and against regulations… but it might just work. At the least, they stood a better chance that way than by trying to get out on foot.

"Come on down here!" she called. "It's our only chance!"

Somewhat to her surprise, the teen made no argument. He simply nodded, headed back in her direction… and, to her even greater surprise, vaulted clear over the railing, dropping five meters onto Strike's shoulder. He hit hard, falling to his knees, but he seemed otherwise intact.

Murrue had no time to ascertain anything more than that. One of the ZAFT soldiers had evidently decided the lull was a perfect time to resume the assault, and the hangar was suddenly filled with gunfire once again. There was a scream as Jake Rainer took a bullet to the chest, falling off Aegis; the last ZAFT greencoat joined him in death a split second later, his faceplate shattered by a bullet from the petty officer that also shattered his nose.

She tried to join in herself, bringing her sights down on one of the redcoats, but a squeeze of the trigger produced nothing but a faint click.

"Damn!" The rifle was jammed, and Murrue had no time to try and clear it. She instead dropped the useless longarm, pulled her sidearm from a pocket of her coveralls…

And in the time it took to switch weapons, Rusty McKenzie fired one shot, taking the petty officer in the left eye.

He had no time to celebrate, or even switch his sights to the last remaining defender. Murrue Ramius, her face twisting in a snarl at the loss of her last ally, brought her pistol up in one swift motion, leveled it at Rusty's head, and jerked the trigger twice in succession.

Rusty McKenzie, ZAFT top gun of the Le Creuset team, dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, twin hulls punched through his faceplate, terrible damage hidden behind the cracked composite.

"Rusty! _No!"_

Athrun Zala had never been in battle before today. He knew the loss of a loved one, but this was his first experience with the loss of comrades on the battlefield… and after the attrition that his team had already suffered, watching Rusty McKenzie, a youth he'd trained with and considered a friend, die before his eyes… that was the last straw.

Before Murrue could get off another shot, Athrun snapped up his rifle and pulled the trigger. It, too, jammed almost instantly, but one bullet hurtled up across the hangar, striking the Lieutenant in the left shoulder. She felt back with a grunt of pain, just barely maintaining her grip on her pistol, and Athrun made his move.

Unlike the Earth Forces officer, he carried no pistol, but that didn't mean he was out of the fight. Activating the thrusters in his suit's backpack, he took off, drawing a knife from his belt as he rose. A wicked-looking switchblade, nominally a weapon of last resort, it was sharp enough to make Kevin Walker himself proud.

Kira had watched these events with something akin to terror, paralyzed by the deafening gunfire and sickened by the way the bullets shattered bodies, but Murrue's fall broke him out of immobility. She was his only real chance of getting out alive, now, and so he got back to his feet, running across the prone mobile suit in hope reaching her before the enemy soldier did.

At about the same moment, Athrun touched down on the Strike's other shoulder, and charged forward, knife upraised, ready to be plunged into the lieutenant's chest.

Fate, as Kevin Walker might have noted, worked in mysterious ways, and if any meeting could be considered by Fate's hand, this one certainly must be.

In the instant before Athrun Zala could strike, his eyes met Kira Yamato's for the first time in three years.

Athrun Zala. A loyal soldier of ZAFT, who had dedicated his life to the defeat of those who had murdered his mother and over two hundred thousand others in an instant.

Kevin Walker. Drifter of past mysterious and skilled at disassembling his fellow man, a tiger awoken from a year's sleep to revenge himself upon those who had wronged him.

Kira Yamato. Ordinary college student, immersed in his normal life and interested only in staying as far from the war as possible, his will to protect his friends nonetheless stronger than steel.

Friends, long ago, now arrayed on differing sides, ideals and goals conflicting. With their reunion, the war would never be the same.

* * *

Author's Note:

* * *

In the struggle between Earth and space colony, Natural and Coordinator, a seemingly insignificant encounter has set in motion events that will change the very course of history. A soldier, an amnesiac killer in hiding, and a seemingly ordinary student will define a generation…

Yes, I'm back. After over a year of getting approximately nothing done at all, the Solid Shark has actually completed a chapter… and for something most of you likely never anticipated. Well, to put it simply, I can't _stand_ how my writing style was back when I first wrote this story. Since there are about a million edits to it that I've been putting off for years as it is, I figured I might as well take the opportunity to just start the whole thing from scratch, and make it better than ever.

In case it isn't obvious by this point, this is a complete rewrite of _Brothers in Arms_, the very first story I wrote in this fandom. As should be blindingly obvious -considering a certain mobile suit that appears prominently here- I'm changing a fair bit of the plot, in addition to smoothing out inconsistencies, removing contradictions, and otherwise bringing the tale's writing up to my current standards. Comrades, the presence of Tallgeese is but the tip of a very large iceberg, and, as is probably also obvious, _A Call to Arms_ is going to be on hiatus for some time to come, since portions of that will also have to be rewritten to accommodate changes here. This story will supersede the original as far as BiA canon is concerned, though the original will still remain on the site (no sense erasing ten months of hard work, after all, especially since this isn't going to be identical even in basic plot).

And no, _Cry of the Falcon_ has not been abandoned; I'm just having a bit of trouble with the current battle, as it's very large, and very different in execution from what I'm used to. I'd explain that last remark, but there are certain readers I want to surprise, for reasons that will become obvious… whenever that chapter is actually ready.

Anyway. Here's the first chapter of _Brothers in Arms: Recurrence._ I know it's not quite up to my usual standards, but since _none_ of my "first" chapters ever are, I'm not going to worry about it too much. With that in mind, let me know what you think, and hang on for a bumpy ride. -Solid Shark


	2. Chapter II: Lost Heaven

I don't own anything except Kevin Walker and Invictus

* * *

Heliopolis, Morgenröte Factory, Main Hangar, January 25th, C.E. 71

* * *

Coming to his feet next to the wounded lieutenant, atop the inert mobile suit known as Strike, Kira Yamato stared into the eyes of his would-be attacker with something akin to shock. _It… it can't be…_ he thought, looking into those emerald orbs. "…Athrun…?" he breathed.

Athrun Zala, knife poised to plunge into the fallen lieutenant who had killed his friend, froze, equally stunned. "…Kira?" he whispered.

It couldn't be happening. They'd last met on the Moon, in the city of Copernicus, at a mutual leave-taking. Athrun, the next best thing to a true pacifist, had left to return to the PLANTs, expecting Kira to follow him not long after. Kevin had departed for Orb, promising the other two that he'd see them soon.

Three years and several thousand kilometers ago, they had parted. Their paths should never have taken them here.

But they had, and Athrun's knife began to falter… which was the opening the third individual there had been waiting for.

Having forced herself to think again, after the shocking impact of the bullet in her shoulder, Murrue Ramius brought her pistol up in her good arm, muscles shaking, and pulled the trigger twice in quick succession.

It wasn't the best shot she'd ever made, and the muscle tremors sent the bullets wide, but they were enough to snap Athrun free of his shocked immobility. He spun, hurriedly tucking the switchblade away, and bounded off the mobile suit, making a jet-assisted leap toward the other machine that still remained in the hangar.

_Damn!_ Murrue swore inwardly. Her people were all dead; the only chance of saving the Aegis now was to go after that ZAFT pilot, but another explosion quickly disabused her of the notion. Even had she not had a hole in her right shoulder, the entire hangar was filling with smoke and flames. Every few seconds, another explosion went off, suggesting that the damage ZAFT had inflicted during their attack had become self-sustaining.

There was only one option left.

Painfully hauling herself to her feet, she tucked away her pistol, turned to Kira, and bodily shoved him into the Strike's cockpit, before leaping in after him.

Kira, shell-shocked as it was, was sent half-reeling by the impact, and collapsed against the seat for a moment. _This is… This can't be! Why would Athrun be here? He _hated_ war! He'd never join ZAFT, never participate in something like this-_

"Get back behind the seat," Murrue ordered, breaking into his reverie. "This isn't gonna be comfortable, but it's our only chance of getting out of here alive."

"Uh, right!" Shaking himself, Kira quickly complied, climbing over the armrest. He was extremely careful not to bump anything along the way; he didn't know mobile suits, but he _was_ a student at a technical college. He knew full well that hitting buttons at random in something this sophisticated could have drastic consequences.

"Hang in there," the lieutenant advised him, strapping in. "I'm sorry you got involved in all this; the least I can do is try and get us both back out." Reaching for the main control panel, Murrue stabbed at the Main Power switch, and hurriedly commenced with the rest of the activation sequence as power began to flow from the machine's battery.

"…What do we do now?" Kira asked hesitantly.

"Try and pilot this out of here," she replied distractedly, and pushed one of the two control levers forward. "I'm not really trained for this kind of thing, but even I should be able to pilot the Strike… and anyway, this hangar doesn't seem to be a good place to stick around. You already know the other shelter's inaccessible; at this rate, the entire facility is going to be destroyed."

He winced. _Oh, man… This is bad. At least I got that girl out here -Cagalli, wasn't it?- but Kevin… Unless he found whatever "escape route" he was talking about, he's still in there somewhere._

Though on second thought, his sandy-haired friend was probably in less danger than he himself was. Kira was privy to the fact that Kevin had been in a number of hairy situations in the past, most of which had been resolved violently; if anyone was likely to get out of this mess without a scratch on him, it was Kevin Walker.

_Guess he'd be telling me to worry about myself,_ Kira thought ruefully. _And be telling me that I'm crazy about now… and I'd have to agree with him._ He thought back to the red-suited soldier who'd tried to kill him and his new ally just moments before. _I had to have been seeing things. That couldn't have been him… could it?_

"Hang on," Murrue told him, interrupting his thoughts once again. "We're moving."

Pushing against the hangar floor for purchase, GAT-X105 Strike, latest and most complex of the five prototype mobile suits Morgenröte had produced for the Earth Alliance, rose smoothly to its feet. As yet another explosion, the most powerful yet, rang through the hangar, the Strike's optics flashed bright yellow, the mobile suit truly coming alive at last.

* * *

Heliopolis, Colony Interior

* * *

A series of mobile suit-shaped holes marked the passage of a mechanical behemoth, revealing its direction of origin and the reason the hatches leading back to its storage hangar no longer operated. The mobile suit itself remained quite, quite untouched… though the same could not be said of the building the white monstrosity had crashed into.

Nor could it be said of the machine's pilot, who slumped in his restraints, a nasty bruise forming on his forehead. As Kevin Walker's eyes flickered open, he realized several things more or less simultaneously: that he had a borderline concussion, that his ribs felt as if they'd been squeezed in a vise, and that he was lucky to be alive.

"Now I understand why they mothballed this thing," he muttered, painfully sitting up. "Note to self: never engage full thrusters the first time you take off…"

Tallgeese was, he now knew, fully as overpowered as he'd been told, years earlier. Its Gundanium armor made an impact with a mere building -or the sequence of hatches he'd inadvertently smashed through before they were fully open- meaningless, but the same could not be said for the person unlucky enough to be sitting inside it at the time.

Had Kevin not been tougher than the average individual, he had no doubt he'd be unconscious or dead.

_Well, I'm not,_ he thought to himself. _I am, however, piloting a mobile suit I obviously don't have full control over, in the middle of what has become one hell of nasty warzone -though nothing compared to Heaven's War, I suppose- with absolutely no idea of what to do next._

Well, one step was fairly obvious. Moving the controls with almost exaggerated care, Kevin pulled Tallgeese back from the building he'd embedded it, bringing it back to its full height. Chunks of rubble fell away as he did so; he was only grateful that no gore came with it. By now, he was reasonably sure most of the colony's population had made it to shelters, but there had still been a chance that this building had still been occupied.

Now that Tallgeese was free, though, Kevin was still faced with one quandary: where did he go from here? He assumed Kira had gotten the girl to a shelter, and that he'd been prudent enough to enter one himself; by this time, Tolle, Miriallia, and the others had presumably done the same thing. Trying to get Tallgeese out was going to be more problematical.

_The harbor, maybe?_ Kevin mused. _If I can commandeer a ship… But I doubt anything around here is equipped to carry mobile suits. Wait: those mobile suits were clearly about ready to be rolled out. That means the Earth Forces must have something in the region capable of transporting them. Even if it's outside the colony itself, I can reach it, and from there maybe I can get to Earth._

That getting aboard said ship would likely require some degree of force didn't bother him overmuch. Kevin had lost all respect for the sponsor nations behind the Earth Alliance years before, with the ever-increasing oppression against the PLANTs. Depriving them of some of their property would be only fair, as far as he was concerned.

Nodding to himself, he cautiously fed power into Tallgeese's verniers, lifting the white mobile suit off the ground without invoking the massive thrust that had smashed him like a bug. To the harbor he would go; but first, he had a detour to make. If he was leaving Heliopolis, he was going to bring his gear with him.

No stranger to battle, Kevin Walker was returning to war.

* * *

Kevin was wrong about one thing: not nearly as much of the population had gotten to shelters as he'd believed. With the lightning speed and sheer unexpectedness of the ZAFT attack, the interior of the colony was still in total chaos.

As two of the GINNs marched calmly through the streets, firing on anything that showed signs of firing back, civilians dodged around explosions in frantic attempts to reach the hardened shelters… and among their number were Tolle Koenig, Miriallia Haw, Sai Argyle, and Kuzzey Buskirk.

"This is bad," Toll whispered, leading the way toward one of the shelter entrances. "This is very, very- Whoa!" He skidded to a stop, throwing out an arm to prevent Miriallia from getting too close as another explosion went off right in their path.

This time, the explosion itself wasn't even the scariest part. A pair of gunmetal gray mobile suits, different from the GINNs, erupted from beneath the street, as if from some mad scientist's underground lair.

"More mobile suits?!" Kuzzey blurted, his voice almost a squeak. "Where did _they_ come from?!"

Toll exchanged a worried look with Miriallia. They were both uncomfortably sure that this explained a lot… including why ZAFT had attacked in the first place. _And,_ Tolle thought unhappily, _where Kira and Kevin went after that girl. That must've been what Kevin was talking about back there… I hope they're okay._

The two mobile suits set down hard enough to send shockwaves through the street, tripping up many unwary civilians; one touched down awkwardly some distance away, while the other landed more gracefully next to one of the GINNs.

Inside the GINN, Miguel Aiman glanced over at the angular prototype. "Is that you, Athrun? Nice job!" he congratulated, without waiting for a reply, his gaze turning toward the other machine. "A clean sweep! The Commander will be-"

"Rusty's dead," Athrun interrupted flatly, still struggling with his own grief. "An Earth Forces officer boarded the other machine."

"What?!" He'd started to look back toward the Aegis, but now Miguel's gaze snapped back to the Strike. "Damn them! Earth Forces bastards!" Instantly, his rifle came up, and a twitch of his finger sent a three-round burst of 76mm high-explosive armor-piercing bullets spitting across the street.

Inside the Strike, Murrue grunted with effort, and awkwardly dodged to one side, letting the rounds crack past and detonate harmlessly on the road behind the machine. Chunks of pavement blasted into the air, hurling in all directions with lethal force; only the mass exodus caused by the appearance of the new mobile suits prevented casualties to bystanders.

The stumbling steps nearly sent Kira tumbling from behind the pilot seat, and Murrue wasn't much better off. _This is even harder than I expected,_ she thought grimly. _I can't believe even trained pilots… And there are still civilians around here!_

To an observer, it might have seemed as if Miguel came to the same conclusion, and wanted to avoid civilian casualties himself, for after that first burst, he tucked the automatic rifle into the clip at the small of the GINN's back, and drew his heavy blade, instead.

The truth of the matter, though, was that he was mad. Furious. Enraged, even. Rusty McKenzie, a young pilot who'd never even seen battle before today, had been cut down, yet another casualty of the war against the PLANTs' oppressors, and now the machine he'd been assigned to capture was being deployed against them.

And to top it all off, the enemy who'd killed Rusty clearly didn't even have the least idea how to actually pilot a mobile suit.

"Get out of here, Athrun," Miguel instructed in a low growl. "Yzak and the others have already escaped with theirs; you need to get that back to _Vesalius._ I'll capture this one myself." His voice turned, if possible, even fiercer. "And I'll avenge Rusty's death."

Athrun hesitated for a moment, torn between very conflicting emotions. _Rusty's gone… but that guy I saw back there was… No, it couldn't be! …Could it?_ He'd lost contact with Kira three years before. It _was_ possible he'd ended up on Heliopolis… but why would he have been at the Morgenröte factory? Athrun just couldn't think of an explanation for that.

In the meantime, though… "Understood," he said quietly. This was no place for him; the machine he was in seemed to have tremendous potential, but it had been saddled with possibly the worst computer operating system he'd ever seen.

In fact, he realized with a start, there was a very good chance he wouldn't even be able to get back to the _Vesalius_ without doing at least a partial rewrite of the OS on the spot. Making simple vernier jumps and standing upright seemed to be about all it was competent at; if the Strike's performance was any indication, it was about as capable of walking as a habitual drunk, and he didn't even want to think about how bad its zero-G navigational performance would be.

Flipping down the onboard keyboard, Athrun set to work, fingers beginning to flash over the keys with haste born of fear… fear of what might happen if Miguel _didn't_ succeed in defeating the Strike.

And, deep down, fear of seeing what happened if he did… and Athrun had been right about who he'd seen at Morgenröte.

Miguel, unhampered by any such worries, drew his teeth back in a snarl and leapt into the air. _This will show those Naturals!_ he thought fiercely, thrusters igniting. _They may have mobile suits now, but they're still no match for us!_

His GINN rushed across the intervening distance, and with a wordless snarl Miguel swung his blade down in a punishing arc, intending to end it all with one blow.

Murrue reacted with admirable reflexes, and the Strike boosted back and to one side… awkwardly. As before, it didn't maneuver quite the way she expected, and the mobile suit stumbled on landing, almost falling over before she could compensate.

Kira, still in quite a precarious position, almost toppled over, and half-fell into Murrue's lap before he could catch himself. "Ahh!"

"Get out of the way!" Murrue barked at him, too busy -and afraid- to be polite. "You're going to get us both killed!"

"S-sorry!" He started to pull himself up, then froze, catching sight of the forward display. "Look out!"

Miguel allowed himself a contemptuous grin. The Earth Forces pilot had managed to evade the blow, but proved in the process that they clearly had no idea what they were doing. _The idiot's just stumbling around! Hah. This is too easy!_

"You're going down now, Natural!" Grasping the sword with both hands, the GINN took several quick steps forward, and the blade blurred forward in a vicious backhand blow that would cleave the Strike in half.

_Now or never!_

Even as the GINN's heavy blade swung in, Murrue's finger stabbed a button marked "PSA". The system had never been tested in combat… but no choice remained.

In the split second before the slash connected, the Strike's armor blurred, taking on color at a rapid rate, shifting from the drab gray to something brighter.

The sword connected, sparks flying in all directions… and the armor held.

"What the…?" Kira breathed. The GINN was straining with all its mechanical might, and the Strike was trembling, but so far as he could tell the blade wasn't so much as scratching the outermost layer of armor.

"What the hell is this?!" Miguel demanded, pulling back his sword. "What kind or armor is this?!" Confused and frustrated, he leapt backwards, denying the Strike the chance to retaliate.

Athrun, still delving into the Aegis' OS, had the answer. "These new mobile suits are equipped with an experimental armor system," he reported, appearing on Miguel's right-hand comm display. "Something call phase-shift armor. I'm not entirely sure how it works yet, but it seems to function by dispelling kinetic energy. A GINN's sword won't even scratch it."

His statement was emphasized a moment later, as a quick command brought Aegis' own PSA online. The prototype's armor blurred, gray flowing away to be replaced with bright red, giving it an imposing, demonic appearance.

"Grr! Then how the hell do I stop this thing?!" Miguel snapped. "It can't be invincible!"

"It's pretty much useless against energy weapons," Athrun replied, still working furiously on the reprogramming. "Doesn't help us much here… But if I'm reading this right, it also takes a lot of power. These things don't have the endurance a GINN does. If you can wear him down…"

The greencoat's smile returned. "Is that right? Fine, then! I don't mind if it takes a while, just so long as they go down!"

The discussion was interrupted then, with a pair of missiles flashing into the open air, launched by a surviving anti-aircraft vehicle. Athrun turned the Aegis toward the source, and triggered the 76-millimeter CIWS mounted on its head.

The first burst of tungsten penetrators slammed into the missiles, shredding them in an instant; the premature detonation sent a fireball and a sizable cloud of smoke into the air… a cloud which did little to hamper Athrun from targeting the truck that had launched the missiles in the first place.

A second burst of CIWS fire ripped into the truck, turning the occupants into unspeakable mush, tearing open the fuel tank, and generally blasting the vehicle into chunks of molten metal and lethal shrapnel.

"You gotta get out of here," Miguel told him, once the smoke cleared. "You can't stay here forever. The same power problems apply to you, too, remember?"

Athrun hesitated a moment longer, a face from three years ago appearing before his mind's eye, followed by a more recent, less distinct image that might or might not have been the same person… and he cursed under his breath.

Miguel was right. There was nothing more that he could do here. His mission was complete; it was all in Miguel's hands now, and he could do little to assist, with most of his systems untested and the CIWS useless against the other prototype.

_Damn._

Taking one last look at the Strike, he fed power into Aegis' verniers, lifted into the air, and took off for the extraction point.

_Kira… I hope that wasn't really you in there…_

Down below, Kira watched Aegis leave. _Athrun… was that really you I saw? _Could_ it have been you?_

Beside him, Murrue closed her eyes. _I've failed. Aegis is gone, the other three must've already been captured… all I can do now is try to get the Strike and this kid to safety, and find the _Archangel._ That's our only hope of getting out of here alive now._

The sound of active verniers brought her attention back to the here and now, and her eyes widened, seeing the GINN boosting directly at them, sword drawn back for another punishing blow. Her reaction wasn't slowed by surprise, though, and her right index finger clenched on the one of the trigger switches on the control bar.

A burst of supersonic projectiles shrieked out, prompting Miguel to instinctively sideslip out of the line of fire; yet it became clear a moment later that he needn't have bothered. The bullets would've screamed harmlessly past, their aim pathetic.

_Idiots!_ Kira thought, frightened. _They haven't even properly calibrated the targeting systems?!_

Miguel openly grinned now. "Well, that was pointless," he said smugly, driving in again. "What does it matter if your armor's invincible… if you can't even hit anything?!"

His sword crashed in again, glancing off the Strike's forearm in a shower of sparks. The prototype stumbled back a step, trying to evade, but the ZAFT pilot didn't give the clumsy machine time. He stepped forward after it, bringing his heavy blade down in a heavy chop that would've carved Strike's left shoulder and a chunk of its chest completely away were it not for the PSA.

Inside the machine, Murrue was beginning to lose control, her inexperience ramping up her anxiety and blood loss from her wounded shoulder starting to take its toll; and beside her, Kira was starting to lose his grip on the seat back, threatening to toss him about the cockpit like a rag doll.

If possible, Miguel's grin widened even further. "You can't even move right, and you're challenging _me?_ You're _way_ out of you league, Natural… so why don't I finish this and put you out of your misery!"

He swung the sword up, then yanked it down again with the all strength the GINN's hydraulics had, smashing the blade into the Strike's chest.

PSA could prevent direct damage to the machine, but it couldn't stop the Strike from slamming backwards into a building, falling into a half-reclining position against the wrecked structure and sending debris flying into the streets.

Even as he was jerked about by the impact, Kira could still see the images on the monitors, and he was horrified to see civilians running in all directions, frantically trying to evade chunks of concrete and steel… and not all of them made it.

To his dying day, he would remember the sight of one man, smashed to the ground by a mass of concrete that must've massed over a ton, moving at high velocity.

The next thing Kira saw was the sight of his friends running for their lives… and Miriallia's face, seeming to look directly at him.

He became conscious then of the GINN charging in for one more blow, one that would surely send the Strike toppling onto those he most desperately wanted to live, and Kira Yamato suddenly knew what he had to do.

It was a decision that would change his life. A decision that would, in the end, change the lives of billions.

Kira Yamato reached down, grasped one of the control bars, and shoved it forward.

* * *

_Vesalius,_ Bridge

* * *

"Three mobile suits incoming, Commander," Ades reported. "They're three of the Earth Forces prototypes, Sir; Joule, Elsman, and Amalfi have secured them."

Le Creuset smiled. "Excellent… though that does leave the question of the remaining prototypes. Any word on them?"

Ades glanced at the report the comm officer had handed him. "According to Yzak, Athrun and Rusty took several people and split off to search for the missing units. There's been no contact since then…"

"Sir?" The greencoat manning communications glanced up from his console. "Update, Captain. Athrun is on his way back, with a fourth unit. He says…" He frowned. "He says Miguel is currently engaged with the fifth prototype; apparently Rusty was unsuccessful in securing it. In fact…" The man swallowed. "Athrun is the only survivor of the detachment."

"I see…" Le Creuset sat back in his chair, fingers steepled.

The news of the casualties was grave indeed; he hadn't anticipated losses of that magnitude from this surprise attack. On the other hand, this project _was_ of vital importance to the Earth Forces, so it stood to reason that the G-weapons would be heavily guarded.

Moreover, the fact that four of the prototypes had been secured meant the operation had, in fact, been largely a success. However heavy ZAFT's losses here, Le Creuset had no doubt they'd have been much heavier down the line, with all five mobile suits in Earth Forces hands.

_Athrun will have to be commended,_ he mused. _He may have lost the people he took with, but the fact that he managed to keep himself alive in such a situation, much less accomplish his part of the objective, speaks well of his skills._

Standing at his shoulder, Invictus appeared pensive, despite the armor. "Almost total losses of the detached team," he murmured. "Hm… That's something to keep in mind with the debriefing, Commander."

Le Creuset glanced back at the assassin. "Do you think _he_ was somehow involved, then? You did say you believed him to be present here…"

"The possibility exists," Invictus acknowledged quietly. "I know how Hydra thinks, Commander. If trouble occurs within a few hundred kilometers of him, he's bound to get mixed up in it somehow." Behind his featureless helmet, he smiled faintly. "Fate, I suppose."

"Sir?" Ades interjected. "Andrei's returning; it seems he's been damaged."

Le Creuset's eyebrows went up; Andrei Simonov was one of the GINN pilots who'd been dispatched to deal with the _Marseilles-III_ transport and its attached mobile armors. For a GINN to have difficulty with a mere Möbius… "What happened to him, Ades?"

"A Möbius Zero, Sir," Ades replied grimly. "Andrei reports they destroyed the _Marseilles-III_ and the pair of Möbiuses she launched, but the Zero that was also present killed Cas and shot off one of Andrei's arms."

"Well…" A Möbius Zero? Le Creuset knew as well as Ades what _that_ had to mean. The Earth Alliance Third Fleet's elite Möbius Zero corps had been wiped out at the Battle of Endymion; only one member remained alive.

Mu La Flaga… The Hawk of Endymion.

"Enemies on all sides, and Miguel currently engaged with one of the new prototypes, hm?" The masked commander stood from his chair. "All right, then. Ades, you have command; I'm taking my CGUE out. I think it's time to bring this operation to a close."

Ades blinked. "Sir? But-"

"The only undamaged units we still have are Miguel, Olor, and Matthew," Le Creuset reminded him. "And Miguel is fighting something that remains a largely unknown factor. Add in the Hawk of Endymion, and we have quite the situation on our hands. Further casualties are _not_ acceptable, Ades. Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly, Sir!" Ades replied crisply. "I'll make sure the hangar has your unit ready by the time you arrive."

"Excellent." Pushing off for the hatch at the rear of the bridge, Le Creuset glanced briefly at Invictus. "Keep an eye out," he said quietly. "It's been three years… but things that would be better left buried may be reentering the light soon. If That Man's legacy returns, things will become a great deal more complicated."

"Understood," the assassin murmured. "I'm monitoring the linkages already. Good luck, Commander."

The commanded nodded briefly, and passed through the hatch. Once out of sight, he smiled. _Mu La Flaga… how interesting it is to find him here. Does he have any inkling, I wonder, of the ties that bind us?_

_Perhaps we'll finally see the end of this twisted tale today… or perhaps a new chapter will be written, rather than an ending. Either way, I expect it will be very interesting indeed…_

* * *

Heliopolis, Colony Interior

* * *

GAT-X105 Strike swayed under Miguel Aiman's sword, and rammed one armored shoulder into the GINN's chest with all the power available to its hydraulics.

"What the hell?!" Miguel blurted, his machine flying back without its pilot's intent. He let out a wordless yell, and then a grunt of pain as the green mobile suit smashed heavily to the ground, the concussion almost knocking several civilians off their feet.

Kira stared at the fallen GINN, almost shocked himself by what he'd just done… yet that was only a small part of him. He'd taken the first step to protecting to his friends; now he had to finish the job… and finish _this._

Murrue _was_ shocked. After the trouble she, who knew the Strike's systems, had had just getting it to move, this kid had… "How… how did you do that?" she breathed.

Kira ignored the question, and reached past her with increasing confidence. "If you're gonna pilot something like this," he told her, pulling down the Strike's keyboard, "you gotta make better use of it. There are still people around here; if you move recklessly, you're just as likely to hurt them as that ZAFT machine is."

A dozen meters away, Miguel gritted his teeth in fury. _How did he _do_ that?! Just a second ago he could barely even _move! Anger boiling in his gut, he struggled with his control sticks, almost willing his stricken machine to rise to its feet.

Kira ignored it completely, focused now on bringing the Strike's OS up for editing. "This is ridiculous," he muttered, examining the settings and lines of code that underlay the mobile suit's basic operations. "They're using _this_? How do you expect to run a machine as complex as a mobile suit with an operating system that's this ancient?"

"It's just a trial version," Murrue said sheepishly. "The Tallgeese OS was the only existing program meant for mobile suits; we were creating a new OS from it, but there wasn't time…"

"If we _don't_ take the time, we're dead." Kira shook his head, and rapidly started keying commands into the system. "Please, move aside."

Murrue didn't even hesitate, quickly climbing out of the seat and into the small space behind it. She had no idea how Kira had done what he'd done so far, but it was clear he was far more qualified for the job than she was.

_If it means we can get out of this alive, I'll let him do whatever he has to._

"You bastard," Miguel growled, his GINN now back on its feet. He knew nothing of what was going on in the other machine's cockpit, and cared even less. "You're gonna pay for that!"

The GINN's thrusters ignited, lifting it a bare two meters above the road, before propelling it in a rocket-assisted dash at its assailant, sword ready for another swing. Maybe he couldn't hurt it now, but he could damn well pummel it until it ran out of power!

But this time, Kira was ready.

Glancing up from his reprogramming, the student lifted the Strike's head, triggering a burst of fire from its CIWS; still uncalibrated, it wasn't much more than a nuisance, with a few shots ricocheting off the GINN's armor… but it was enough to throw Miguel off his game, turning a flying lunge into a grounded run.

Undaunted and furious, Miguel swung anyway, heavy sword whistling through the air, only to see the Strike duck once more, and respond with a fist to the GINN's face.

Tiny bits of armor flew off from the force of the punch, and the GINN hurtled backward, sword flying from its hand and spiraling out into the city. The mobile suit's own motion came to a halt a moment later, crashing into the side of a building; debris fell away as the GINN crushed half the structure, and Miguel fell back against his seat, half-stunned.

_Okay,_ Kira thought, returning his attention to the computers, _if I can just do this before he recovers…_

"Take the calibrations and reset the zero moment point and CPG," he murmured aloud, fingers flying over the keys. "Then connect the control module directly to the molecular ion pump. Reconstruct the neural linkage network. Renew meta-active field, reactivate feed-forward controls, convey function…"

Murrue stared at him, almost beyond surprise now. Almost… but not quite. Neatly smacking the GINN into a building or two was impressive enough; seeing someone _rewrite an entire OS in the middle of combat_ was something else entirely.

_Adjust Coriolis deviation,_ Kira thought, monologue continuing silently as he worked. _Connect to motion routines… System online! Initiate bootstrap!_

On the monitor, the words "SYSTEM UPLOADED" were the most welcome message Kira had ever seen.

Shaking his head in a valiant effort to clear it, Miguel struggled back to his feet once more. "What's with this guy?!" he said incredulously. "He couldn't even move! What's going on here?!" Miguel Aiman had fought in many battles. Had fought many skilled opponents, and many so pathetic he wondered how they'd graduated flight school.

Never had he fought someone who adapted so suddenly, or so completely, in the middle of battle, particularly after such a poor start.

_But I guess it doesn't matter,_ he thought, hands tightening on his controls. "Come on, Natural bastard!" he shouted. "Just die already!" In lieu of the sword he'd lost, he drew out his assault rifle once more and pulled the trigger, spitting penetrators at his foe. Now the battle… was _personal._

Kira, caught unprepared, let out a grunt of anguish as the bullets slammed home, ricocheting off his armor but still staggering him. By now, though, he knew the GINN couldn't really hurt him, and so he ignored the next burst, igniting the Strike's thrusters to gain altitude and time.

The GINN followed him, but Kira's attention turned to more important matters, risking a moment's inattention to bring up the Strike's weaponry status.

A few seconds of menus flashing across the monitor, and he had his answer. One that was not encouraging.

In theory, the Strike should've carried a powerful beam rifle, and a shield with anti-beam coating. In practice…

"Assault knives?!" Kira blurted, frustrated. "That's _all_ there is?!"

Armor Schneider folding assault knives. Clearly a weapon of absolute last resort, particularly for a machine that appeared intended for greater things; Kira wanted to break something from the sheer unfairness of the situation… but he knew that wouldn't help.

All right. The GINN was firing on him again, but Kira could deal with that; he spun the Strike out of the way, riding its verniers to gain breathing space and room to maneuver. So he only had the knives… then he'd just have to make them work.

And it took just a few moments to figure out how.

To the surprise of the equally frustrated Miguel, the Strike stopped running. Taking one more backward boost to find a clear space, the Earth Forces mobile suit touched down, and immediately took off running, directly for the GINN.

Baring his teeth in what couldn't be called a smile even by the charitable, Miguel fired another burst from his rifle, and then another, and almost howled in fury when the Strike wove to one side and then the other. Somewhere in the interim, it had pulled the knives from its hip armor, and Kira Yamato would not be stopped from using them.

Miguel ripped off one more burst, and then the Strike was took close, inside the GINN's reach.

Kira rammed one of the knives forward, thrusting it through armor in a screech of tortured metal to jam into the GINN's left hip joint, rending control cables and hydraulics alike, leaving the entire limb useless. The other aimed higher, piercing into the right shoulder. Metal screamed in protest… and the arm fell limp, immobile.

Miguel Aiman, the Magic Bullet of Dusk, was pinned like a butterfly.

Murrue Ramius took a moment to stare at the lamed mobile suit. _He… he actually _did_ it, _she thought distantly. _He defeated a GINN, all by himself…_

Within the ZAFT suit's cockpit, Miguel was nearly incinerated by the fires of his own fury. "Hydros not responding, multi-drive system offline… this can't be happening! That bastard can't _do_ this to me! Not a Natural who couldn't even _move!"_

Done was done, though. Somehow, he'd been immobilized, and Miguel Aiman was no idiot. Enraged he might be, but he knew when it was time to cut his losses, and so he disengaged his restraints, pulled hard on a lever, and opened his hatch, while a countdown appeared on his monitor in lurid red.

Murrue saw the pilot lift up and out of his mobile suit on the jets of a thruster pack, and frowned in momentary confusion… and then understood, eyes widening. "Get away from the GINN!" she snapped to Kira. "Hurry!"

He looked up at her, confused. "Huh? But we already-"

"Do it! It's going to-!"

The ZGMF-1017 GINN erupted, tearing itself apart in a blast of fire, smoke, and debris as charges within it ignited. The blast wave finished off two of the buildings damaged during the fight, a disembodied arm almost crushed Kira's friends, and within the Strike Murrue Ramius lost her tenuous grip, slamming hard into a cockpit wall.

The rest… was silence.

* * *

Heliopolis, Concealed Harbor, Corridor

* * *

The corridor was close to the centerline of the colony; there was no gravity of note, and thus the three human forms floated, adrift, out of contact with the floor. Blood accompanied two of them, dark red spheres drifting away.

Two of the bodies were just that, grievously wounded by the blast that had left them there, torn and rent asunder. The third… coughed, animation returning to battered limbs.

Black-haired Natarle Badgiruel coughed again, and her eyes slowly opened, blinking against the dust that also hung in the weightless environment. _Wha… what the hell happened…?_ she thought groggily, wincing at the pain in her bruised body. _The captain… he sent me to find Lieutenant Ramius… and then…?_

She forced herself to straighten out, pushing off against the wall to regain contact with the floor. "Damn," she whispered. "They must've gotten farther than we realized." Natarle shook her head quickly, trying to clear it.

The effort hurt, but it succeeded in dispersing some of the fog in her mind, and the ensign turned her attention to the officers she'd been accompanying back to the _Archangel._

"Hey," she called, approaching the nearer one. "Hey! Are you-" She grabbed the man's shoulder… and broke off, gagging. The officer was not all right, not at all.

At any rate, Natarle had never _heard_ of anyone surviving with half their skull missing, and her shipmate was clearly no exception.

She had no desire to see if the other man was in similar shape, after that. This reminded her entirely too much Heaven's War, and that was something she did _not_ need to think about just now…

Forcing herself not to throw up, Natarle turned away. Staying where she was wasn't going to do any good; Heliopolis was under attack, and though ZAFT had already bombed the harbor, it was only a matter of time before someone came to check the area more thoroughly. She had no illusions about her ability to survive against a ZAFT commando.

_The only chance I've got,_ she thought grimly, _is to make it to the _Archangel…_ and hope enough of the crew made it for us to launch. Otherwise _none_ of us are getting out of this alive._

Natarle pushed off, resuming the journey that had been interrupted by the bombing. She was unhappily certain _Archangel_ would need a new captain, but if _she'd_ survived, there was a good chance others had, as well, particularly those aboard the ship herself. The explosions seemed to have been concentrated around the gallery overlooking the harbor, which suggested ZAFT had underestimated _Archangel_'s armor.

_Of course, we've also got to hope Lieutenant Ramius managed to secure at least some of the G-weapons,_ Natarle thought, drifting down the corridor. _ZAFT probably secured at least a couple of them; if we don't have even one of our own, we're sunk…_

Coming to a bend in the corridor, Natarle was almost blinded by a cone of light coming from around the corner. Throwing up a hand to shield her eyes, she tensed, wishing she'd been carrying a sidearm… before a voice called out, quelling her fears.

"Is that you, Ensign Badgiruel?"

"Petty Officer Neumann," Natarle replied in relief, as the noncom came into view. "So I'm not the only survivor."

"Right, Ma'am," Arnold Neumann confirmed. "I've rounded up as many of the crew as I could find; none of the officers, I'm afraid, but I think we've got enough people to at least get something done."

"Good." Setting off again, she gestured for him to follow. "The captain… the captain and most of the senior officers were probably killed," she said slowly. "The blast that knocked me out seemed to be from the observation gallery. So we're going to have to do this ourselves."

"Do what?" Neumann asked warily.

"Get the ship operational, of course," Natarle replied sharply. "It's our only chance of getting out of here alive."

* * *

Heliopolis, Colony Interior, Park

* * *

"Wow, Kira," Tolle commented, looking up at the now-stilled mobile suit, "you've really done it this time. I thought Kevin was the one who was supposed to do crazy things like this."

"He did something even crazier," Kira replied ruefully, kneeling beside the unconscious Earth Forces lieutenant. "Something I didn't think was even possible… and I guess he was about to do something weirder. I dunno what, though."

"That sounds like him," Tolle agreed. "So," he went on, glancing down at the lieutenant, "who's she, and what exactly happened back there?"

"Concussion," Miriallia replied, before Kira could speak; she was wrapping Murrue's shoulder wound. "Minor one, I think… though of course I'm no expert." She shook her head. "I'm surprised she didn't bleed out before you even got here, though."

"Me, too," Kira admitted. He hadn't had time to think about during the event, but his erstwhile rescuer was very lucky to be alive.

And so was he… and he didn't fully understand how he _had_ made it out alive. The Strike's "phase-shift armor" had certainly played a role, but that wasn't all of it; if he hadn't acted, the enemy pilot would've just smashed Strike around until power failed. The end would've only been slightly delayed.

Instead, Kira had taken a hand… and surprised himself with his own skill. No one would confuse him with an expert, but he'd performed well enough to defeat a trained ZAFT pilot, despite never having even _seen_ a mobile suit in person before.

_Of course, he almost got us anyway,_ he reminded himself. _If it hadn't been for that weird armor, we'd have been blown up when he self-destructed…_

"Hey, Earth to Kira," Tolle prompted, tapping him on the head. "I asked you who the woman is, remember?"

Kira shook himself. "Right, sorry… I don't know her name -we were kinda too busy for me to ask- but I do know she's an Earth Forces officer, whatever uniform she might be wearing right now. She got me out of there, before everything blew up."

"Huh." Kuzzey wandered over, looking over his shoulder at the Strike. "So… this is part of an Earth Forces project? But this is Orb territory; we're supposed to be neutral. What are they doing here at Heliopolis?"

"It would explain some of the work Professor Kato's been having us do lately," Sai interjected. "When you think about it, a lot of it's been related to the same kind of mechanical systems and related software that would be used in something like that mobile suit."

The eldest of the group was standing on the Strike's hatch, glancing curiously inside. As with the others, the machine fascinated him… and made it crystal clear why ZAFT had chosen to attack Heliopolis, of all places.

It still left the question of why the _Earth Forces_ had chosen Heliopolis, but even a cursory glance was enough to show Sai that Morgenröte had been heavily involved in design and construction of the new mobile suit. The overall design was unfamiliar, but he easily recognized the design _philosophy,_ even if it was very different from the original Orb mobile suit.

Speaking of which…

"You think they got Morgenröte to do the work because of the Tallgeese project?"

Kira nodded, dropping wearily to the grass. "Probably. Aside from ZAFT, they're the only ones in the world who have actually done anything militarily with mobile suits. Tallgeese may've been a failure, but they must've learned _something_ from it."

"And now _we're_ paying for it," Kuzzey said gloomily. "Damn it… why would they _do_ this? We're supposed to be neutral! Why would they be building mobile suits for the Earth Forces?!"

"Money, probably," Miriallia mused, stepping back from the unconscious lieutenant. "At least part of it. Just about anything can be bought, if the price is right." She sighed. "Even our neutrality, apparently. Sahaku, you think?"

"Probably," Kira agreed. "Had to've been one of the Five Noble Families. I don't think Athha would take the risk, the Seirans don't have the guts, Onishi was wiped out years ago, and Harker… just not their style. Nah, it was probably Sahaku, all right."

_Politics,_ he thought in disgust. _We should've been _safe_ here, dammit! ZAFT had no motive, the Earth Forces are too busy going after the "unnatural" Coordinators… we could've just sat this out in peace if it weren't for those idiots!_

Further conversation was preempted by a groan from the prone officer. "What… what happened…?" she managed, marigold eyes squinting against the artificial daylight.

"Careful," Miriallia warned, quickly kneeling by her side again. "I think you've got a concussion, ma'am, and your arm isn't doing so great."

The officer winced, and gingerly began pulling herself up to a sitting position. "…Thank you for the warning." She blinked, bringing her eyes back into focus, and looked around at the little group. Her gaze finally settled on Kira. "I suppose I've got you to thank for getting us safely here?"

Kira nodded. "I, uh, did the first thing that came to mind, I guess. After that GINN blew itself up, and you were knocked out, I thought getting you medical attention was the first priority; and since I didn't know where else to go…" He shrugged. "I'm Kira Yamato, by the way."

"Lieutenant Murrue Ramius," Murrue said in return. "Earth Forces… but you know that by now." She glanced over at the Strike, kneeling some dozen meters away. "I should warn you now that that machine is top secret; you'd best be staying away from it."

Tolle flinched. "Ah, it's a little bit late for that…"

Before the lieutenant could say anything in response, Kira came to his friend's defense. "I don't think it matters anymore, Lieutenant," he pointed out. "ZAFT already got away with at least one of those things, didn't they? I don't think it matters if a few civilians -who don't even know anything about mobile suits- get a glimpse of it."

Murrue sighed. _True enough; and it looks like they also got away with Duel, Buster, and Blitz. So much for "military secrets"…_

"I suppose you're right," she said wearily. "But I'd still prefer you all stay out of the cockpit; if only for your own safety. As Kira here can tell you, that's not exactly a toy." Grimacing, Murrue began to pull herself to her feet; Miriallia quickly moved to help her, shooting a glance at Tolle suggesting she thought it unwise.

Kira, for his part, sighed inwardly in relief. He'd been afraid the officer would try something more drastic; it had been one of those days, and he'd seen earlier what a trained soldier could do firsthand, when Kevin blitzed several ZAFT soldiers.

_Not that Kevin's exactly normal,_ he admitted to himself,_ but there's not much we could do against _anybody_ who at least knows how to use a gun._

"Well," Murrue said presently, "it looks like things have calmed down for the moment. Unfortunately, I don't expect that to last." She looked over at the other students. "May I at least know who I have to think for patching me up?"

"Miriallia Haw," Miriallia offered, smiling a little. "I've had some first aid training. Not much -I can't do anything for your head- but enough, I guess. And that's Tolle Koenig over there. My boyfriend."

"Sai Argyle," the youth with the orange glasses interjected. "I had to help Kira get you down from that mobile suit."

"Kuzzey Buskirk," the last of them said; unlike his friends, he wasn't entirely sanguine about chatting with the Earth Forces officer. "Now can you tell _us_ just what you people think you're doing?" he said bluntly. "This is a neutral colony!"

Murrue closed her eyes. _I knew this was going to come up. Neutrality… these kids are nice, but are they ever naïve…_

"Listen -Kuzzey, was it?- there's more going on here than you appear to realize," she began. "There's a war going on here. A war that's been going on for over a year, with no signs of stopping. We've been in a stalemate for several months, but people are still dying out there-"

"And that's why we wanted no part of it!" Kira interrupted, temper flaring now that the imminent danger had passed. "Why do you think we came to live in Heliopolis, huh? This place is supposed to be neutral territory!"

"He's right," Tolle agreed. "Orb's got nothing to do with this war, and neither do we. So why is the Earth Forces building mobile suits here?"

"Do you honestly believe the war would never have touched you?" Murrue demanded, exasperated. "Laws are silent in time of war. Cicero. He was right then, and it still holds today. Do you think that remaining 'neutral' would've kept you safe forever? This war has the potential to exceed even the Reconstruction War itself, and that war cost over a _billion_ lives!"

"That's no excuse for dragging us into this!" Kira retorted angrily. "How many people do you think have died today?! All because the Earth Forces started building those things in a place that had nothing to do with-"

"You want to blame someone, blame your own government," Murrue shot back. "They agreed to help us with this project, whatever their reasons may have been; we didn't just force ourselves on Orb." She took a deep breath. "Yes," she said more calmly, "people have died today. Probably every single person I worked with at Morgenröte today is dead. Lack of response from the ship I was assigned to is a bad sign as well. And yes, I'm sure there have been civilian casualties."

"Then why-" Sai began, only to be cut off by a sharply pointed finger.

Murrue was gesturing -forcefully- at the Strike. "Do you see that machine?" she asked rhetorically. "That mobile suit, and the other four prototypes we were developing here, were supposed to turn the tide of this war. Break out of the stalemate we've been in for the past five months. The longer this war drags on, the more people will _die,_ ladies and gentlemen. The Strike could help bring this whole war to an end!"

Kuzzey continued to look stubborn, as did Sai; Miriallia chose to remain quiet and listen, but Kira could tell she was far from convinced herself… and the same could be said for him. _Do you know what this conflict has already cost my friends?_ he thought bitterly. _I thought I saw Athrun in there, Kevin was hurt by this before the shooting even started… and now you've turned our home into a warzone!_

Kira knew about the war. He'd been following the news, knowing it was important to stay informed even as a neutral. He knew how bad the fighting had gotten, and the energy crisis on Earth. He also had the perspective of a politically astute friend, even if that friend's opinions were filtered through biases. He had that same friend's tales, however vague, of things that did _not_ make the news…

Before he could give voice to any further arguments, however, he felt a very distinct _thud_ in the ground. And then another. And another.

Kira and the lieutenant exchanged glances suddenly devoid of the heat of the moment. After what they'd just been through together, they knew _exactly_ what those heavy, rhythmic impacts signified.

As they turned almost as one in the direction the footfalls were coming from, the other students exchanged nervous looks. "Uh, guys?" Tolle said uneasily. "I'm no expert, but doesn't that sound awfully like…?"

"Aaahhh!" Kuzzey blurted out, expressing in this case what was probably the general sentiment.

The unmistakable form of a mobile suit, tall, bulky, and white, had emerged from the broken cityscape, heading directly for them.

Murrue stared at incredulously. "That's Tallgeese!" she said, astonished. "Who got _that_ moving?!"

"Er… is that bad?" Sai ventured.

The lieutenant swallowed. "In combat, maybe not; it's Gundanium, but I don't think the pilot exists who could handle its full performance. But…"

"That won't stop it from stepping on us," Kira finished.

She nodded wordlessly. _What is _that_ doing here?_ she wondered, as the white behemoth plodded closer. _Abandoned a decade ago, in mothballs ever since… Did ZAFT decide to take that, too?_ Murrue glanced back at the silent Strike. _And is there any point in trying to get the Strike up and running?_

There wasn't really time, of course. Strike's battery was undoubtedly nearly depleted after being unexpectedly thrown into battle early; and even were it fully charged, it would take far longer to bring the machine online than it would for Tallgeese to reach them.

Indeed, Tallgeese was nearly upon then… but just as Kuzzey made the decision to simply run for it, the machine came to a halt a few meters from them, knelt with a groan of long-disused motors, and powered down with an audible sigh.

In one swift motion, made somewhat less than smooth by her injured arm, Murrue drew her pistol, aiming it directly at Tallgeese's hatch. Now that the machine had powered down, she had a chance… and if there was a ZAFT pilot on the other side of the featureless white metal, she had every intention of extracting a price for the men she'd lost that day.

"What do you think is going on?" Miriallia whispered to Tolle, watching the event uneasily.

"Dunno," he whispered back. "I didn't know they'd even kept that thing around after the program was scrapped. And why would they bother with it when they had those new prototypes to go after?"

Kira, however, was starting to get an idea as to what was going on. Alone of them all, he knew what one person in particular had been up to…

After a few seconds, Tallgeese's hatch swung open, and a figure in black stepped out onto it, carrying a large case in one hand.

"Identify yourself!" Murrue barked instantly, before Kira could intervene.

The sandy-haired youth took a quick glance at her insignia, shrugged… and lightly dropped the handful of meters to the ground. "You're not really in any position to make demands, Lieutenant," he said easily, straightening as if the drop had been a mere meter.

"Lieutenant," Kira began, "it's all right, he's not-"

"I saw you in Morgenröte, didn't I?" Murrue said, ignoring him. "Answer me!"

"An Earth Forces officer has no authority to be giving orders around here," he replied, setting down the case. "Your very presence is in violation of Orb law, whatever Sahaku may have decided. But," he added, raising a hand, "I've a feeling it's in our best interests to cooperate. I'm Kevin Walker, Orb Army Reserve."

"Huh?" Sai blinked, exchanging surprised looks with his classmates. This was news to them.

"Orb Reserve?" Murrue lowered the pistol a fraction. "Can you prove it?"

"I don't carry military I.D., no," Kevin admitted. "In uniform, I'm Special Forces. I can prove I'm a student at the Morgenröte campus, though." He glanced past the officer. "Yo, Kira. Told you I had a way out."

"Yeah, you did," Kira replied, relieved. "You never said anything about _that_ thing, though."

Murrue looked over at him. "You do know him, then?"

"He's a classmate of ours," Tolle said, before Kira could answer. "I dunno about the Orb soldier stuff, but if you're thinking he's a ZAFT agent… nah. Don't think so."

She relaxed a little, but didn't yet lower the pistol. "Are you armed?"

"Yes," Kevin said simply. "But as little as I like the Earth Forces, I _am_ a soldier -of sorts- and right now it's not exactly in my best interests to antagonize you." He sighed. "Look, Lieutenant, I'm just a reserve officer attending college, who got caught up in this mess and happened to know about this old junk heap." His eyes flashed behind his shades. "I've got no more love for ZAFT than you do."

"He's an old friend of mine, Lieutenant," Kira put in, stepping forward. "I've known him for ten years. Besides," he added, "if he was with ZAFT, don't you think he had the drop on us when he arrived?"

_He has a point,_ Murrue conceded. _He could've just stepped on us; and if he wanted to keep us alive, he still had the upper hand. And it _does_ make sense that an Orb soldier would've known to try Tallgeese…_

The pistol lowered at last. "All right," Murrue said. "I have to admit you and your friends make a compelling argument, Mister Walker. In that case…" She gestured vaguely at the colony around them. "What do you people make of this situation, and what do you intend to do about it?"

"Run away, of course," Kuzzey replied, incredulous. "You think we're crazy enough to stick around this place? We're heading for a shelter as soon as possible!"

Miriallia and Tolle exchanged glances, and Sai cleared his throat. "That… might be a bit difficult, Kuzzey," he pointed out carefully. "Kira, Kevin… you were in the thick of, weren't you? Are they as bad as I think?"

Kira winced, thinking back to the conditions inside Morgenröte, when he and Kevin had chased after the mysterious blonde. Fire, explosions… an encounter with ZAFT soldiers that ended brutally and was quite terrifying while it lasted.

Not to mention, he recalled, almost being shot by the very lieutenant who had subsequently saved his life and now stood among them.

He knew, though, that that wasn't exactly the question Sai was asking. "The shelters there were packed full," Kira said quietly. "I got one of them to accept that girl we were with, but that's all; and I couldn't get to the shelters on the other side, because of all the explosions."

_And that's where I saw… except it couldn't have been, could it?_

"That's why I took Tallgeese out," Kevin interjected, ignorant of his friend's worry. "Well, that and because I prefer to be able to fight back in a pinch. But yeah, the shelters there were either packed full or inaccessible."

"Which is exactly why I asked you what your plans were," Murrue said, taking back control of the conversation even as she holstered her pistol. "By this point, that's probably the norm for the shelters; the ZAFT attack has been underway for over an hour now, and the damage to the colony interior is significant. Those shelters that aren't full are likely to be impossible to reach."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Tolle demanded.

"If you'll help me, I can help you," she replied, gesturing at the Strike. "You've already seen that, so keeping you out of the loop is pointless now. What I'm suggesting is that we get the Strike recharged and armed; that way we can both defend ourselves against further attacks… and try to call for help from the Earth Forces."

"But the ones at the factory were all killed," Kira protested. "And I _know_ that aren't any ships outside the colony; there's no way you could've hidden that."

"You'd be surprised," Murrue said dryly, thinking of one of the prototypes that ZAFT had succeeded in stealing. "But you're right, there aren't any of ships outside Heliopolis. There _is,_ however, one _inside_ the colony: the _Archangel,_ a new warship intended to carry the mobile suit prototypes. And if we can contact her, we still have a chance of getting out of here alive."

"But we're just civilians!" Kuzzey blurted. "We shouldn't be getting involved in something like this! We'll just get in even worse trouble! We'll be targets ourselves-"

"Kuzzey," Kevin said with a sigh, "a battle inside a colony is a Bad Thing. There's entirely too much chance of a serious breach in the colony walls, and potentially the entire place could collapse. And a colony collapse does not discriminate between soldiers and civilians."

"You think we should do it, Kevin?" Kira asked quietly, moving to the sandy-haired youth's side. "After everything… I mean, weren't you the one who came here to get away from this kind of thing?"

"Can't hide forever, Kira," Kevin murmured in return. "Sometimes heaven is lost… and sometimes the past comes looking for you." He looked back over his shoulder, at Tallgeese. "The time's come for me to pay back a few debts, that's all."

Kira sighed. Sometimes, he didn't entirely understand his friend; the last thing _he_ wanted was to get embroiled in the war. The Yamato family had departed from Copernicus when tensions escalated to the point where war seemed almost inevitable, and came to Heliopolis in the belief that it would be safe from the conflict.

"…I don't want to get involved, Kevin. I'm not like you; I'm not a fighter…"

"Never said you had to be, Kira," Kevin pointed out. "Nobody says you need to get back in that thing and fight with it; all the lieutenant is asking is for our help making sure _she_ can, and getting word to someone who can help get us off this place before everything comes crashing down on our heads."

"…I guess you're right." Kira looked over at the others, who'd been discussing the matter among themselves. "Guys?"

"Kuzzey doesn't like it," Sai answered, to no one's surprise. "But you and the lieutenant are probably right." He turned to Murrue. "What do you want us to do, Ma'am?"

Murrue sighed in relief, not even bothering to hide it. _Glad I didn't shoot that kid; I thought I'd never convince these guys…_ "Okay then. Sai, I need you and… Tolle, I think, to go to the Morgenröte annex two blocks west of here." She dug into a pocket, pulled out a security card, and tossed it to Sai. "That'll get you in. Inside, you'll find three trailers of equipment for the Strike; we need the number three trailer."

Sai nodded. "Morgenröte annex, number three trailer… Got it. Let's go, Tolle."

She smiled her thanks. "Kira," she said next, "please get back into the Strike, and start broadcasting a call for help. If anyone on the _Archangel_ is still alive, they should hear you."

"I'm on it," Kira acknowledged, and headed back -somewhat uneasily- to the silent prototype. The thing made him uneasy, but he had to admit _this_ task, at least, was innocuous enough. _Just call for help,_ he told himself. _Then you can get somewhere safe, and stay out of the rest of this…_

Murrue now turned to Kevin… this time more uncertainly, as she knew _this_ individual was not quite the mere college student the other teens were. "…Mister Walker…?" she began.

"Make it Kevin," he replied; he was kneeling beside the case he'd brought along. "I'm not much for formality, and you wouldn't believe me if I told you what my rank was… What is it?"

"You were the one to recommend helping me," Murrue told him. "I'm assuming you're willing to do so, as well. Being as you have training of your own, however… what exactly _can_ you do?"

Kevin flipped open the case. "If you're suggesting I use Tallgeese to defend us until your friends arrive, I'd advise against it, Lieutenant," he said calmly. "I nearly killed myself getting the thing out of its hangar; that kind of thruster power isn't to be messed with casually. I'll need time to adjust before I'm at all comfortable going into battle with it. In the meantime…" He pulled out a gunbelt, bearing a number of .45 cartridges and a thigh holster holding a twin to his Colt. "Perimeter security."

Murrue nodded thoughtfully. "All right; there could still be ZAFT soldiers within the colony itself, so that's probably a good idea." She peered over his shoulder. "Uh… what in the world is _that?"_

He glanced up; she was pointing at a peculiar, almost menacing pistol. "I don't think you want to know," he answered, pulling it out. "I hate the damn things, but there are some foes you need to take unusual measures against."

She almost asked anyway… then changed her mind. _He did say he was special forces,_ she reminded herself. _And even Orb special forces probably run missions the rest of us don't have the stomach to know about._

Mostly ignoring her now, Kevin slid a combat knife onto the belt, then wrapped it around his waist, before selecting another sheath -this one containing a trio of throwing knives- and strapping it to his right wrist. He'd recovered his gear from the Yamato house, on his way here; if things were going to get any worse, he had no intention of being unprepared for it.

_Sometimes, heaven is lost,_ he mused bitterly. _Those bastards… I wonder if that son of a bitch Zala has anything to do with this? It'd be fitting if he was the one to ruin my life again. Damn it all, after all this… Well, they'll see what they've done._

_And right now, the important thing is to get out of this alive._

"Kevin…"

He glanced up again. "Eh?"

Murrue was looking up at Tallgeese, a thoughtful expression on her face. "You said you're Orb Reserve," she said slowly, "but you're clearly not acting in that capacity right now. So… what exactly are your intentions, after we've escaped Heliopolis?"

"I've got business of my own," Kevin replied quietly. "I've… put off some things I should've done long ago. Once we're out of here, I'm going to settle them." His eyes narrowed behind the shades, remembering the blonde girl from Morgenröte… and another blonde, whose past was no mystery to him at all.

_I'll find you, Elisa. No more hiding, no more running. I promise._

"ZAFT isn't going to just let you go, you know," Murrue pointed out, breaking into his reverie. "If you help us at all, they'll see you as a threat… and Tallgeese can't reach any friendly territory from here on its own."

Kevin turned to face her. "I know," he said, lowering his voice. "Unlike Kira and the others, I have training… and experience. This won't be over just by getting this machine and your ship out of here. So if you're asking for my help until we reach Earth Forces territory…"

He paused, looking back up at Tallgeese, and thinking of the past. The two girls, the conflict between his own halves, and the trials forced on him by the realities of his body… Kevin Walker had friends in ZAFT, friends he had no wish to come into conflict with; yet he also enemies, with them and with other factions.

He'd spent a long time running from it all. But running… would solve nothing, in the end. And Kevin Walker had obligations, to himself and to others, that he had to fulfill.

"…If that's the question you're asking," Kevin said at last, "then the answer… is yes."

* * *

Heliopolis, Colony Interior, Park

* * *

_All right,_ Murrue thought. _It looks like we may yet have a chance of getting out of here alive._

Things were starting to look up. It had been over an hour now without any sign of ZAFT activity, suggesting to the lieutenant that they had exited the colony for now; it was probably temporary, perhaps induced by the need to study the data they'd captured, but the reprieve was nonetheless welcome. It gave her and her reluctant allies time to prepare.

Sai and Tolle had returned during that time, with the requested trailer. Now the two of them, with Kuzzey's help, had begun opening it up, revealing the equipment within: a multifunction shoulder unit and large cannon, both meant for mounting on the Strike. It would give the machine more options in combat, and also replenish its depleted battery.

With Kira taking care of things in the Strike's cockpit, the students were at work trying to attach the Striker pack, while Murrue supervised and Kevin kept watch on the perimeter, occasionally speaking in low tones with Miriallia.

_Smart kids,_ Murrue mused. _They probably hate my guts for getting them involved in this, but at least they seem to recognize the severity of the situation now… and they're doing a remarkable job. Good thing I stumbled into the company of engineering students, I guess. Even if Kira is… more than he seems._

His ability during the battle with the GINN continued to both impress and perplex her. He'd clearly never even been close to a mobile suit before, yet he'd not only defeated a ZAFT machine, but done so by literally rewriting the Strike's operating system in the middle of the engagement. That suggested programming skills and multitasking ability far beyond human norm.

_At least… _Natural_ norm. I know for sure I've never seen a Natural pull something like that. And then there's the way he just jumped onto the Strike, back in Morgenröte… Could he be…?_

Of course, even if he was, Kira was still quite the prodigy. Common misconception aside, even _they_ needed to study and practice rigorously to reach their full potential. Considering his age, his abilities were quite remarkable regardless of his exact nature.

_As for him,_ Murrue thought, glancing at the black-clad youth, _I'm sure _he's_ a Coordinator. If nothing else, there's no other way someone as young as that could be in Special Forces._

Not outside the realm of possibility, to be sure; Orb was about the only nation on Earth to openly make Coordinators welcome, outside of the PLANTs' allies. To them, it didn't matter if you were a Natural or a Coordinator, so long as you were a law-abiding citizen.

The question did remain, of course, just what a reserve Spec Ops soldier was doing attending college at Heliopolis, of all places, but under the circumstances Murrue thought she had more important things to worry about. Besides which, if all went well she'd never really need to know. As soon as they reached friendly territory, the Orb nationals could leave, and she could return to problems she more clearly understood.

Within the Strike's cockpit, oblivious to the lieutenant's musing, Kira was bent over the Strike's control panel, keeping half an eye on Sai and Tolle's efforts while he himself attempted to tune the radio settings, one hand pressed against a headset. "To any Earth Alliance forces in this area," he said, for the third time now, "this is X105 Strike. If you can hear me, please respond. Repeat, this is X105 Strike…"

Below, Kevin watched pensively, keeping half an eye on the surrounding area. _What a fine mess this is,_ he mused, as Kira suspended his efforts, turning his attention to the Striker pack installation. _And dragging the others into this… they should never have had to see those things. They're right about that much. This war _shouldn't_ have anything to do with them… but thanks to Sahaku -and, I suppose, my father- they're right in the middle of it._

Kevin winced, thinking back to the brief but bloody encounter within Morgenröte. Under other circumstances, he would hardly have thought about it at all -he'd done much, much worse in the past- but the thought of what Kira had had to see there… He'd hoped his idealistic young friend would never have to see the darker side of humanity first hand.

Now it looked like he might have to participate in it himself. The pilot of the GINN had escaped, but if anything else went wrong, Kira could well find himself forced to kill.

_I won't let that happen,_ the soldier told himself. _If there's anything I can do to prevent it, I won't have Kira cross that line. It's a burden he should never have to bear._

"Lieutenant!" Kira called from the Strike, interrupting Kevin's thoughts. "Which unit is the power supply?"

"It's all one integrated package!" Murrue shouted back. "Just mount the entire unit!"

"Got it!"

Standing next to the trailer, currently having nothing much to do but wait, Miriallia sighed. "I can't believe this is happening," she murmured. "This morning, the war was just something we heard about on the news, y'know? Something that happened to, well… other people. Not _us."_

"Yeah," Kuzzey agreed, taking a breather next to the trailer's cargo lift controls. "I never would've thought it could come to this. We're neutral, and, well…"

"If it weren't for these mobile suits, we still would be," Sai mused, tapping commands into the keyboard. "Kevin's probably right about Sahaku being behind it, though; Yuroba might've tried it, but they're not smart enough to actually pull it off. Of course," he admitted, "it looks like Sahaku didn't either, in the end…"

"I don't care about that," Kuzzey said bluntly. "I'm just worried about my parents. I mean, we saw how crazy it was when Kira first turned up in that thing; we were still trying to get to the shelters ourselves. If they…"

Miriallia closed to her eyes. Kuzzey was not exactly the bravest of them, but she couldn't deny his point this time. "You're right," she said softly. "I'm worried about my family, too. But… ZAFT mostly stayed away from the residential sectors, focusing on Morgenröte. Since none of our parents worked there…"

Above them, hydraulic arms whined, beginning to lift the power supply and shoulder-mounted weapon pod out of the trailer and into position on the Strike's back. An act whose sounds were very quickly overwhelmed by a hint of distant thunder, followed by a tremendous concussion, far above the wounded lieutenant and her reluctant allies.

"What the hell was that?!" Tolle blurted, leaning out from the trailer's cab. "Are they attacking again?!"

Murrue's gaze had snapped to the central colony support, and focused on it in time to see a red-orange craft rush out of the explosion, followed closely by a white mobile suit; the latter was almost expected, but the former prompted her eyes to widen.

_A CGUE… and that's a M__ö__bius Zero!_ she thought incredulously. _What's the Hawk of Endymion doing _here_ of all places?_

She spun in a hurry, even as the CGUE fired on the Zero, trying to destroy what seemed to be its last remaining wired gunbarrel. "Hurry!" she shouted at the Strike. "Mount the equipment before it's too late!"

"I'm trying!" Kira yelled back, and flung himself back into the Strike's seat. "Damn it!" he swore, fingers flying over the keyboard. "I didn't want to do this again!"

Furious at the circumstances, yet too frightened of the alternative, he closed the Strike's hatch and hurried through the Striker pack connection sequence. He hadn't wanted to do this again, would have _refused_ to even contemplate flying the machine again, but there was no time for that.

If Kira didn't act now, his friends were going to die. And he found he couldn't accept that. Even if it meant doing something he hated, he couldn't stand by and do nothing when he had the power to protect them.

GAT-X105 Strike's eyes flashed, and its Striker pack rose smoothly toward its hardpoints.

* * *

Within the CGUE's cockpit, Rau Le Creuset smiled. His old foe had put up an excellent fight, but he had harried Mu La Flaga, and forced him into combat in a place where the Möbius Zero's unique advantages were considerably weakened. Now the two of them burst into the open air of the colony interior, with more than enough space to maneuver, but it was far too late.

"Perhaps we _will_ end this now, Mu," he murmured to himself, and triggered a burst of depleted uranium shells from his battle rifle.

"Dammit!" Mu grunted, hauling the Zero to starboard… too late, as the penetrators smashed into his last gunbarrel, held close in the faint hope of absorbing shots meant for his hull. Effectively devoid of armor, the remote weapon was perforated, and Mu only barely managed to jettison it before it could explode right against the Zero itself.

He was at a disadvantage here, and he knew it. His only remaining weapon was his linear cannon, which depended on turning to face his foe; and that was an option Mu was unlikely to have. His Zero could still fly here, with the "gravity" a moot point away from the colony surface, but that didn't obviate the issue of atmosphere.

And the Möbius Zero simply was not designed for operations in _any_ atmosphere, not being expected to fight _inside_ space colonies.

Still, Mu wasn't about to give up without a fight. If his only chance was to face his enemy, however outgunned he was, he would do it. Bracing himself, he gripped his flight stick and hauled back hard, pulling into a loop.

Before he could complete it, he caught a flash of reflected light, and something large and sharp bit into his linear cannon's barrel, slicing cleanly through like it was made of air. The severed tip fell away, leaving Mu -now _completely_ unarmed- to catch a glimpse of the victorious CGUE as he flew over it, nearly brushing against its crest.

Inside it, Le Creuset's smile widened, and he prepared to turn and finish his helpless opponent. A personal matter that lay between them longer than Mu could know would finally be settled in an instant… but in the moment before he could turn, his eye caught something below, and he realized he actually had something more important to deal with first.

Taking in the shapes below him, Le Creuset's eyes narrowed. "That must be it. The fifth machine, the one that Athrun reported. And… Well, well…" Not far from the Earth Forces machine, he could see a tiny figure in black leaping into a pure white unit, and now his eyebrows went up. "That's interesting… but probably irrelevant."

He had two targets: a ten-year-old relic that probably could hardly move, and a state of the art Earth Forces prototype that had apparently succeeded in defeating a GINN in single combat.

The choice was obvious.

Ignoring the Möbius Zero completely now, Le Creuset dove toward the G-weapon, raising his battle rifle. Flame spouted from its barrel, and heavy penetrators sped across the gap toward the gray, motionless machine.

In the instant before they connected, Kira let out a wordless yell, finger stabbing for a certain switch.

The Striker pack connected, locking solidly into place on the Strike's back. Kira touched the phase-shift key, prompting the machine to blur, gunmetal gray flowing into blue, white, and red. A burst of depleted uranium hammered the fuselage… and ricocheted away.

Le Creuset blinked in surprise. "No effect? Impressive… then I'll just try _this."_

Shifting his aim slightly, he fired again, aiming for the trailer beside the Strike… and the people with it. The students there crouched, Kuzzey trying to fling himself out of the way; but Kira was not working entirely by guess this time, and quickly interposed the Strike, letting the bullets once again bounce harmlessly off.

"Not even an enhanced APSV round could get through… Impressive indeed." Le Creuset frowned, considering his options. "But it can't be invincible, and it can't last forever…"

He wasn't the only one pondering tactics. Kevin had leapt back into Tallgeese the moment he realized what was going on, but even as he inserted the activation key and began powering it up, he couldn't fathom what he was going to _do_ with it. He had ammunition for his railgun, but no assurance the mothballed weapon would work right, and he had grave doubts about sustained mobility; Tallgeese had been in storage for a decade, and it was a good bet its joints needed work.

_Not to mention I'd probably run through the propellant left in the tanks pretty quick, with those monster verniers. And so help me, I'd probably just run into a wall again if I tried to _fly_ the damn thing!_ Kevin swore viciously under his breath. _I'm a mud-pounder, not a mobile suit pilot!_

Above, Mu had recovered his bearings, and pulled well away, grateful for the respite. "So there's still one left," he muttered. "Guess this mission isn't a _complete_ failure… but _now_ what? Le Creuset's going to find a way to hurt it sooner or later… Damn it, somebody _move!"_

Three of the pilots were experienced military men, in one form or another; two of them professional pilots, and the third a veteran of a vicious and bloody guerrilla war. All of them knew that as important as decisiveness was on the field of battle, impulsiveness was often a recipe for disaster.

But while they looked at the options, the fourth pilot -having no such training or experience- acted entirely on instinct, and reached for the weapon contained within the transport trailer.

Murrue took one look, and blanched. _"Wait!"_ she shouted frantically, heedless of Kira's likely inability to hear her. "Don't use that here, it's too-!"

Kira Yamato never heard what she was trying to say. All he knew was that he'd been forced to fight one battle with point defense weapons and a set of knives, while this time he had genuine firepower on hand.

He did learn the hard way a moment later, though, once the Agni hyper-impulse cannon was firmly in hand, and his finger tightened on the trigger.

The Strike's targeting computer still wasn't working perfectly, but it was good enough. A blast of red-orange fire, haloed in electric blue, erupted from the cannon, smashed into the CGUE's left arm, and kept right on going… until it hit the colony wall.

The CGUE's arm melted away entirely, its shield simply unequal to the task of blocking a shot that could kill a battleship. Had it been any farther to one side, Rau Le Creuset would never have known what killed him; and the colony wall fared little better, not expected to stand up to an energy discharge of such magnitude.

The hyper-impulse bolt melted through the wall as easily as it had the CGUE's limb, and air began to escape in a rush.

And apparently the universe had decided the drama was not quite done, that the players on the current stage could not yet be permitted to take in the twist. Fate had one last card to play before the enormity of the situation sank in.

From the hidden harbor where Sahaku had conspired with Terra to build their new ship, an explosion a hundred times that which had heralded the entrance of Mu La Flaga and Rau Le Creuset erupted, bringing with it the fading light of pure antimatter… and out of the fire, as if the flames were her messengers, sailed a graceful, winged form.

Ship of pure white, bringer of the new phase of the war, LCAM-01XA _Archangel_ soared into view, released from her bounds to enter the stage.

* * *

Author's note:

* * *

The student has taken his first step onto the stage of history; the soldier has begun to face himself and what he must do. And the White Angel has spread her wings, beginning a journey that will change everything…

Okay. Yeah, it's been something like eight months since Chapter I went up; sorry about that, everybody. I did _not_ intend for that to happen. Probably the proximate cause was a computer glitch erasing a nearly-complete scene that I'd had to struggle with every step of the way, and the last few months have been extremely stressful for me… but I still didn't mean for this chapter to be so late.

But now I'm back, and the delay actually proved beneficial. The story you're going see now is one that benefits from a lot more planning, and expands a great deal more on issues that might barely have been touched on otherwise. So hold on tight; there's more twists to come.

In the meantime… I expect this chapter isn't good enough to make up for the delay. I'm sorry about that, too, though in my defense there wasn't a whole lot I could do with this chapter that wasn't in canon, and the Heliopolis arc is a part I've had trouble with every time I've written it. But from here on, things should get nice and twisty, and I'll do my level best to make sure my next update doesn't take another eight months. -Solid Shark


	3. Chapter III: Men of Destiny

I don't own anything except Kevin Walker and Invictus

* * *

PLANTs, Aprilius One, Office, January 25th, C.E. 71

* * *

"Doctor, I've just learned something that you should know."

The man within the shadowed office, seated at a plain desk adorned solely by a computer terminal, glanced up at the tall, gray-eyed woman who'd spoken. "That's the first 'urgent' report you've given in years, Echidna," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Not much impresses you."

"Aside from the Bloody Valentine, not much has approached my former career in a long time," the woman replied easily. "But this… First, Doctor, are you aware of the Le Creuset team's actions?"

"Rau?" The man shrugged. "I understand he recently began some kind of investigation at Heliopolis; I don't have any details beyond that, however. Why?"

"He seems to have attacked the colony," the woman called Echidna said bluntly. "I was monitoring Akasha when a node in the region reported it. I don't know what Commander Le Creuset has found, but he seems to think it serious enough to breach Orb's neutrality."

The shadowed man blinked. "That's… unusually direct of him. Whatever he found must have been significant to result in such a unilateral response from him." He frowned. "The rumors of Earth Alliance involvement must have been correct, then. But still…"

"There may be other factors," Echidna said quietly. "Which is why I came directly to you, Doctor. In the course of investigating the situation, I noticed a transponder signal. It was only active for a few seconds, but there was no doubt: Hydra is there."

The man in the shadows stood slowly, and turned to face the viewport behind his desk. "Hydra?" he murmured, taken aback. "Echidna… not to put too fine a point on it, but Hydra's implants indicated KIA two years ago. Shot in the head, as I remember it."

"And he was supposed to be dead a year earlier, when the team succumbed to Tiber-psychosis," she pointed out. "Assuming Hydra to be dead is clearly not to be done lightly. I assure you, Doctor, I know his signature when I see it. And Akasha seldom makes such errors."

"True, true…" The shadowed man frowned pensively. "That still wouldn't be enough for Rau to launch such a unilateral attack. In the first place, one man, however dangerous, isn't worth this kind of diplomatic incident, and in the second, Hydra likely wouldn't show himself at all unless forced."

"Agreed. But Hydra's presence was enough to prompt me to search Akasha more thoroughly." Echidna paused. "A certain colleague's old facilities appear to have been reactivated, Sir. Several months ago, I would estimate."

The man nodded in sudden comprehension. "The Earth Forces' involvement… I see. Mobile suits." He glanced over his shoulder. "So the Earth Alliance is attempting to close the technological gap. And should I assume that's led Hydra to attempt what I suspect he has?"

"Probably. The unit is not properly tied to Akasha, but it seems likely." Her eyes narrowed. "I know that man, Doctor. If Le Creuset has inadvertently brought him out of hiding, he'll use whatever means at his disposal to survive, and that would be an obvious choice for him."

"I see…" The shadowed man closed his eyes in thought. "Well. This changes things somewhat. Unfortunately, we still haven't recovered our losses from four years ago, but I expect we can still handle this if we must." He nodded to himself. "If need be, leak the information to the Knights; I'm sure the Eastern Calculus would be happy to deal with this situation for us. Until then, keep me informed. It appears the balance of power is changing, and that may in the end be considerably more significant than Hydra's return."

* * *

Earth Alliance Forces Mobile Assault Ship LCAM-01XA _Archangel,_ Bridge, January 25th, C.E. 71

* * *

As though rising from the underworld, the great ship _Archangel_ soared into the artificial sky within the Heliopolis colony, interrupting the shooting match between Rau Le Creuset and prototype Strike.

In her center seat sat Ensign Natarle Badgiruel, grim but in control. Most of her superiors were dead, the ship operating under a skeleton crew… but she'd succeeded in rallying those she could find, and in launching the _Archangel_ from her concealed berth.

Even more miraculously, she'd done it without atomizing her own ship when the positron cannons fired.

"Status report!" she barked, the moment the ship was into clear air. "What's going on out there?"

"Three- no, four heat signatures detected," Jackie Tonomura reported from CIC, below and behind Natarle's chair. "Checking… one G-weapon, a Möbius Zero, one CGUE, and…" He frowned. "The… Tallgeese?"

"Stay sharp," Natarle snapped when the petty officer hesitated; she was more than a little surprised herself, but she needed information, not confusion. "What's the status of the units, and what is a CGUE doing here?"

"The Zero appears to have been disabled," Tonomura responded, squinting at his display and quickly tapping in adjustments. "Still mobile, but weapons destroyed. Tallgeese is immobile; the CGUE is engaging the Strike… Strike has equipped Launcher pack." He winced. "Ma'am, I have confirmation of a break in the colony wall."

_Damn,_ the ensign swore silently. _What in the world is going on here? A M__ö__bius Zero… that has to be the Hawk of Endymion; what is _he_ doing here?_ _And Tallgeese. Is that friend or foe?_ Natarle tapped her armrest, thoughts racing. _That's not important right now; if it's not moving, I don't care whose side it's on. The CGUE, on the other hand…_

Natarle nodded sharply. "Load Korinthos and activate laser designator," she said sharply, coming to a decision. "Target that CGUE, but do not risk further damage to the colony's structure." Natarle paused a moment, mind flashing back three years, and rubbed her right wrist. "Fire!"

_Avoiding damage to the colony with missiles is going be tricky,_ Petty Officer Romero Pal thought, dutifully inputting the commands at fire control. _But I have to try. _"Target locked," he reported. "Firing… now!"

Missile tubes alongside the white ship's rear fins swung open, the blunt, round objects within came into view, and four Korinthos 30cm missiles burst out into open air on trails of fire.

* * *

Heliopolis, Colony Interior

* * *

"A warship, inside the colony?" Mu La Flaga blinked, looking through his rear displays at the peculiar ship. "My briefings never said anything about _that!_ And who in their right mind-?"

He cut himself off. Whatever strange reasoning had brought the new ship into the colony's interior, it had very probably just saved his life, and those of the people clustered around the G-weapon below. If this worked, he'd never say anything word against the idea.

About that moment, missiles flew free of the _Archangel,_ and indeed Rau Le Creuset had more important things to worry about than his erstwhile targets. "The new warship," he muttered under his breath, throwing his CGUE into a violent reversal. "Athrun's team failed to destroy it… more resilient than we expected, then."

Abandoning offensive action entirely, Le Creuset raced away from the mobile suits on the ground, riding his verniers toward the colony's central pillar. His opponent had to be inexperienced; the tactic might have had merit against a mobile armor or ship, but against a more mobile target, those missiles were far less effective.

Of course, Le Creuset himself had the small problem that the Strike had just obliterated his left arm, throwing his balance and depriving him of both defense and one of his weapons.

_Time to fall back, then._

The CGUE reached the central pillar, rolled, and skimmed along a meter from its surface. _Archangel_'s missiles followed, but Le Creuset had anticipated that; inverting relative to the pillar, he triggered a burst from his rifle, then another, sending over a dozen penetrators screaming toward the missiles. The first shredded, tearing itself to shrapnel prematurely. The explosion buffeted the second, resulting in most of the second burst missing entirely, flying off to slam ineffectually into the colony wall.

One last slug hit the missile dead-center, setting off the weapon's own warhead in a blaze of fire… which the remaining pair flew straight into.

The blast spun both wildly out of control, guidance and stabilization systems knocked out, and Le Creuset rolled back around, racing away from the malfunctioning weapons. A prudent choice, in the end, as the pair of high-explosive weapons careened wildly, crashing into the central pillar itself.

The combined explosion of two antiship missiles tore at the pillar with terrible fury.

For a moment, it was an eye-searing fireball. Then, to the horror of those watching from below, one of the pillar's structural supports groaned, connections snapping, and fell away, leaving the colony's central pillar even weaker than the battle inside it had.

Le Creuset ignored it entirely. "There's nothing more to be done now," he murmured to himself, pulling away from the pillar; the _Archangel_ no longer had line of sight, and he felt confident the Strike would not be firing again. He doubted the pilot had expected the level of damage incurred the first time, else a second shot would already have been fired.

_Though it was quite impressive, _he mused, angling for the hole the hyper-impulse cannon had melted through the colony wall. _The equivalent of a battleship's main cannon, equipped on a mobile suit… the Earth Forces are quite clever._

_And dangerous. Time to regroup. I'll deal with the new warship and those mobile suits another time._

The CGUE flashed into the hole, leaving the combat zone behind… and far below, the structural support crashed into the colony floor with a tremendous _thud_ and enough force to make the Strike shake.

* * *

_Archangel,_ Starboard Catapult Deck

* * *

_Well, at least _that's_ done with,_ Kevin Walker thought, leaning back into Tallgeese's padded seat. _Damn… to think it was such an _orderly_ universe this morning. Go to class, watch things explode, almost knock myself out, and top if off with Kira and this ship competing for Most Collateral Damage._

The immediate threat having passed, the newly emerged _Archangel_ had touched down in an open space within the wrecked cityscape, permitting the Möbius Zero to gingerly land, and the Strike to ferry Lieutenant Murrue Ramius and her accidental allies aboard. Kevin had followed suit in Tallgeese, but for now refrained from joining the others on the deck.

Put simply, he was exhausted. It was the first time in over a year he'd been in such chaos, and he was out of the habit. For now, Kevin would let his friends handle the introductions; he'd join them when there was less of a crowd.

Not that there _was_ much of crowd, objectively. A single officer and a couple of dozen enlisted personnel came from the interior of the ship to great the new arrivals, and Murrue had a sinking feeling there weren't many more keeping watch within.

Natarle, though harboring similar misgivings -and a more accurate picture of just how bad things were- managed a crisp salute as she came to a halt in front of the more senior officer. "Lieutenant Ramius," she greeted, relieved. "I'm glad to see you're all right. When we saw the Strike in action, but had no way of knowing who was in control…"

Murrue returned the salute. "I'm relieved to see you as well, Ensign Badgiruel. Considering the theft of the G-weapons, I was afraid they'd been able to destroy the _Archangel,_ as well."

"They tried," Natarle said quietly, eyes dark with the memory of fire and bodies. "Ma'am… the ship is intact, but…"

Footsteps interrupted her before she could deliver her dark tidings, and a man in flightsuit of mixed black, gray, and purple approached, returning from landing within the ship's hangar proper. His helmet tucked under one arm, he looked exhausted; an appearance which did not deceive, after the day he'd had.

"Pardon me for interrupting," he said, stopping a few paces away to salute. "I'm Lieutenant Mu La Flaga. May I where Captain Bourne is? I need to report…" He trailed off, seeing the look on Natarle's face.

"Captain Bourne… is dead," the ensign said heavily, prompting a gasp of shock from Murrue. "At least, that's my assumption, and I'm afraid it's most likely correct. As I was telling Lieutenant Ramius, ZAFT attempted to destroy the _Archangel_ via explosives in the harbor; they failed to inflict damage on the ship, but judging from how far the blast reached, Captain Bourne couldn't have survived."

"The captain… dead…?" Murrue whispered, stunned. Then other implications hit her like a punch to the gut, a horrified realization just one grim report away. "Wait… Ensign Badgiruel, the other officers…?"

"The rest of the bridge crew was also present, along with the G-weapon pilots," Natarle informed her quietly. "And Chief Engineer Damon was inspecting the outer hull." She paused. "Ma'am, you're… the senior officer left."

Murrue swallowed hard. That… that meant… _No. I'm only a senior grade lieutenant. That can't possibly…_

"Excuse me," Mu interrupted quietly. "But if that's the case, I should report. Lieutenant, do I have permission to come aboard?"

She shook herself. "Yes, of course. Sorry. I'm Lieutenant Murrue Ramius, with Sector Two, Fifth Special Division. Permission granted, Lieutenant La Flaga."

"I'm Ensign Natarle Badgiruel," Natarle said in turn, saluting the pilot. "Same assignment."

Mu nodded. "Thank you." He smiled sheepishly. "To be perfectly honest, I don't have anywhere else to go now; I was assigned to escort the G-weapon pilots here, with new orders supposedly waiting for me… but the ship I was on was attacked shortly after fighting started here, and was destroyed."

Off to one side, the students stood in a small clump, feeling decidedly out of their collective depth. "What do we do now?" Miriallia whispered. "It doesn't look like we're going to be able to just leave now. Even if we could find the shelters…"

"By now, they'll all be lockdown," Kira said quietly, absently stroking the mechanical bird on his shoulder. "I don't think we've got anywhere _to_ go, now."

"Wait," Kuzzey protested, "before, you just said there'd be trouble finding one that wasn't full. But now we've got the time to look, don't we? I mean, the last ZAFT pilot already left, and you damaged it in the process…"

Kira shook his head. "I blew a hole in the colony wall," he answered glumly. "The shelters are one level below being launched as lifeboats by now."

The memory wasn't one he was very proud of. He'd reacted entirely on instinct, just as when he fought off the earlier GINN; only this time, he'd had genuine firepower on hand, making him think the odds were more in his favor. He hadn't expected the _level_ of firepower available, though, and grossly underestimated the power of the seemingly normal weapon he'd chosen.

Tolle seemed to pick up on his thoughts. "Not your fault, Kira," he whispered. "You've never even been near one of those things before; how could you know they'd given a mobile suit _that_ kind of firepower? Heck, even Kevin probably didn't know, and he's the guy who turned out to be…"

His voice fell into silence then, for Mu had noticed the small, out of place group, and begun walking toward them curiously.

"Who are these guys?" the pilot asked curiously.

"Oh." Murrue moved to join him. "These are students from the Morgenröte college; they were caught up in the fighting near where the Strike emerged, and agreed to help prepare the Strike for any further combat." She nodded toward Kira. "This young man is Kira Yamato; he was the one piloting the Strike. Thanks to him, we have one less GINN to worry about, on top of the damage he did to that CGUE."

Natarle's eyes widened in disbelief. "Fought off a GINN? This _kid_ actually did it?"

From behind them, the _Archangel_'s senior surviving mechanic snorted. "You've gotta be kidding me," Kojiro Murdoch groused. "This guy isn't even old enough to shave!"

His fellow mechanics joined in the general expression of doubt, and Kira flinched. But Mu La Flaga didn't dismiss the claim quite so quickly, his expression unreadable. Instead, he examined the youth carefully, taking in his physical condition.

Mu La Flaga looked straight into Kira Yamato's eyes, and saw…

"So tell me," he said at length, tone neutral. "You're a Coordinator?"

Mu might as well have announced that George Glenn himself had boarded the ship, from the reaction that triggered. He could hear sharp intakes of breath from behind him, sensed Natarle's sudden tension, and noted the way Kira's classmates looked at their friend in surprise… and the way Kira's own expression changed.

The look was not incomprehension, or confusion of any kind. Nor was it denial… nor even defensive. Kira's eyes closed for a moment, as if in resignation, and when they opened again it was with a startling resolve, as if daring his questioner to fault him for his answer.

Kira Yamato met Mu La Flaga's gaze, and said one, simple word.

"Yes."

* * *

_Vesalius,_ Bridge

* * *

It was a more somber mood on _Vesalius'_ bridge than when the operation had originally been launched. The last time her senior officers and pilots had gathered here, the air had been filled with the normal tension before a mission. Now it was thick with the knowledge of the price of victory, and the understanding that the mission was, indeed, not yet truly won.

Against the odds, some of their targets still remained… and there were now fewer pilots to change that situation.

It was an air of melancholy… and for some, an air of waiting vengeance.

All watched attentively, however, as footage brought back by Miguel Aiman played on the display they gathered around, followed by the data returned by Rau Le Creuset's damaged CGUE. Footage of the stunningly dangerous foe that had almost wrecked Le Creuset's machine, and _had_ forced Miguel to self-destruct his own.

"I'm grateful you brought back this imagery, Miguel," Le Creuset said quietly, once the playback had finished. "I would've been a laughingstock, losing to an Earth Forces mobile suit, without your corroborating evidence of its capabilities." He shook his head. "I knew the Earth Forces were desperate to close the technological gap, but I never dreamed they would be so successful."

"Indeed," Fredrik Ades agreed. "They've had considerably less time than we have for mobile suit development, yet it's clear these machines are far beyond even a CGUE, let alone a mainline GINN." He glanced over at his commander. "Morgenröte's influence, you think?"

"Probably," the masked commander agreed. "Orb has been ahead of the rest of the Earth Sphere for over a decade now, and unlike us they had the original combat mobile suit on hand to examine. As can be seen here," he added wryly, indicating the glimpse of the white mobile suit gleaned from his own combat data.

"That thing could be a problem," Olor put in tensely, standing with Matthew on one side, Andrei Simonov beside them. "If they've actually found a way to make that machine work… I mean, I remember the press releases ten years ago…"

Le Creuset shook his head. "Unlikely. Notice it never attempted to engage me; that would tend to suggest someone used it as a means of escaping Morgenröte, but was unable to do much more than move. It's certainly a threat to bear in mind, particularly considering the observed capabilities of Miguel's opponent, but there's no sense worrying unnecessarily. Durable it may be, but Tallgeese's speed works against it. A 'wild horse', they called it."

Floating across from him, Athrun Zala stared pensively at the display. _This is bad. I could've just dismissed what I saw as my imagination at first, but _someone_ took over that G-weapon in the middle of the fighting, and I don't think it was a Natural. No Natural I know of could've rewritten the OS mid-battle like that, and I don't think even Yzak or Nicol could, either…_

It was circumstantial evidence, he knew. But he was a Coordinator himself; his memory was excellent, and he didn't think it likely that he'd randomly hallucinate Kira -a friend he hadn't seen in years- in the middle of a firefight. Put the two together, and…

_Damn it. It's not supposed to be this complicated! Kira was supposed to come to the PLANTs, not end up right in the line of fire out here. Damn it! Kevin managed to stay out of the way, why couldn't Kira? If it _is_ him…_

_I have to be sure._

"So what's the plan, Commander?" Miguel asked presently, barely controlled fury radiating from him. "We can't just let them go after this, but they do have that new ship, too…"

"I know," Le Creuset replied quietly. "Which means it's time for desperate measures. I don't believe they'll be able to bring Tallgeese to bear against us, and I'm quite sure the Möbius Zero will need heavy repairs before it can be deployed again, but the G-weapon proved surprisingly capable, and the Legged Ship managed to survive our demolition attempt apparently unscathed."

"Meaning, Commander?" Ades said, when he paused.

"Meaning we're going to mount D-package weaponry," Le Creuset said flatly. "I'm aware of the risk to the colony, but we can't afford to take chances with that ship. Andrei," he went on, turning to the pilots, "I'm going to keep you here for local defense; no sense leaving ourselves completely uncovered if the Earth Forces have any other surprised on hand. Miguel, you'll take Olor and Matthew in."

Miguel's expression could be called a smile only by the most charitable. "Yes, Sir. With pleasure."

_I have to be sure…_

"Commander," Athrun said, before he could stop himself, "I'd like to accompany them as well."

Le Creuset glanced at him in mild surprise. "I applaud your dedication to duty, Athrun, but I don't believe deploying you at this time would be wise. The only units available to you are the captured prototypes, and they're not yet ready."

"But-"

"Besides," Ades put in, "it shouldn't be necessary. Three GINNs should be enough, with heavy weaponry. And Miguel has the right to this one; I'm sure you'd be quick to avenge such a humiliation in his place."

Athrun closed his eyes. _It's not about revenge, or dedication to duty…_ "…Understood, Sir."

* * *

_Archangel,_ Starboard Catapult Deck

* * *

Perhaps George Glenn wouldn't have been the best metaphor. At that moment, it might've been better to compare the reactions to if Patrick Zala had appeared from nowhere, or perhaps the infamous Hercule Verdot.

At least, Mu La Flaga thought the appearance of the PLANT's Defense Committee Chairman or the instigator of Heaven's War would've been appropriate targets for half a dozen automatic rifles than one heretofore unknown teenager.

Almost as one, the security personnel who had accompanied Natarle onto the catapult lifted their rifles, and Natarle herself took a step back; even Kuzzey Buskirk edged slightly away from his friend, now revealed to be something different from what they had all believed.

Unnoticed behind the general activity, ignored in the sudden tension that filled the compartment, Tallgeese's hatch swung open. What Kevin might've done -how far he might've gone, in the face of a threat to his friend- remained unknown, though, as someone else took action.

Tolle Koenig took a deliberate step in front of Kira, placing himself between his friend and the half-dozen rifles that could've perforated him like a screen door in less than a second. Behind him, Miriallia let out a wordless sound of protest, but he was too angry to care. "What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?!" he demanded, shattering the tense silence. "Kira saved your lieutenant's life, didn't he?! He's the reason you've still _got_ that mobile suit of yours! And now that you find out he's a little different from the rest of us, suddenly you want to _shoot_ him?!"

Murrue flinched from the words and the youth's expression both. Even Natarle, a more pragmatic officer by far, felt a flicker of discomfort at the clear implication of Tolle's words.

He wasn't done, either. "Look, he's here for the same reason the rest of us are: to stay the hell away from this war. Yeah, he may be a Coordinator, but that doesn't make him a ZAFT soldier by default! Did it occur to you people that maybe some _Coordinators_ want to keep out of it, too? That not all Coordinators want anything to do with ZAFT at all?"

After a moment's hesitation, Sai, too, stepped forward. "Tolle's right," he said, more calmly but no less firmly. "I've known Kira for quite a while now, and he's no ZAFT soldier. And if he _was_ your enemy, don't you think he would've taken the Strike when he had the chance? He already piloted it better than your own people did; he could've taken it out of here easily, right? But he _didn't."_

Murrue closed her eyes. _Sometimes,_ she told herself, _you fight against something long enough that you forget that thing isn't automatically evil. And you _did_ suspect what he was back when he was rewriting the Strike's OS, didn't you? Only now that you have confirmation it changes?_

The marigold eyes opened. "Lower your weapons, men. Stand down."

"But, Lieutenant…"

Murrue glanced at Natarle, noticing the ensign's own face was troubled. "They're right, Natarle. 'Coordinator' isn't necessarily synonymous with 'mortal enemy'."

Taut expression easing almost imperceptibly, Natarle nodded.

Weapons lowered, and a near-audible sigh of collective relief went through the group. Mu allowed himself a genuinely audible one, and nodded at Kira. "Sorry about that," he apologized. "If I'd known it was going to create such a fuss, I'd have been more discrete. I just wanted to get that cleared up, rather than have it bite us all at a more inconvenient time." He glanced at Murrue. "So, Lieutenant, what are we going to do with these guys?"

"The shelters are on complete lockdown," Natarle answered, before the older woman could. "We might be able to manage something later, but for now…"

Murrue pursed her lips. "In that case," she mused, "we'll take this one thing at a time. Mister Chandra," she called, "see about showing the students to the enlisted quarters. I… suspect we have plenty of room at the moment."

"Right away, Ma'am," Petty Officer Dalida Lolaha Chandra II responded. "If you'll all follow me," he went on, gesturing toward the interior of the ship.

"Wait a sec."

The petty officer paused, wondering what the pilot was concerned about. "Sir…?"

Mu was looking toward where the Tallgeese knelt, its hatch opened but with no one yet emerged from within it. He'd known something was bothering him, besides Kira's genes, and now he remembered: the antique mobile suit, and the reason why it had been in mothballs for ten years, barely even used for the G-weapon project.

"Lieutenant Ramius," he said, frowning, "who piloted _that_ thing? I'm guessing it wasn't one of the students I've seen so far, and Ensign Badgiruel said the trained G-weapon pilots were all killed. So…?"

"Of course, sorry." Murrue nodded toward the black-clad figure who had finally poked his head out of the Tallgeese's cockpit. "Lieutenant Mu La Flaga, this is Kevin Walker, another of the students from Heliopolis. He says he's a reserve officer with Orb's Special Operations Command."

Beside her, Natarle Badgiruel's eyes went wide. _Kevin… Walker? Wait… does she mean…?_

The sandy-haired youth leapt lightly down to Tallgeese's right knee, and from there to the deck. Pulling off his sunglasses, he walked toward the officers, giving Natarle a much clearer view of his face. And of his unnaturally bright jade eyes…

It was the youth Natarle and Neumann had bumped into that morning, along with -she remembered now- Kira and friends. She hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but now, examining him more closely, something clicked in her memory.

"_You've gotta get out of here. They're coming."_

"_What about you? This is the last transport-!"_

"_Natarle. I'm low on time, and out of options. This place is going straight to hell in six hours. I can't go; I came here for a reason, and my mission isn't yet complete. But _you_ have to leave while you still can. _GO!"

The face had been much paler back then, almost like a bad vampire flick. He'd looked almost like a walking corpse then… but Natarle remembered now. There was no mistake; the face was more human, the combat gear traded for subdued civilian garb, but she knew.

Oblivious to the ensign's startling reaction, Mu examined Kevin more suspiciously than he had Kira. "Orb SOCOM?" he repeated carefully. "You?" Kevin nodded. "Proof?"

"I'm not in the habit of carrying ID that could link me to black ops, Lieutenant," Kevin answered, shrugging. "People like me don't usually advertise themselves. But," he added, jerking a thumb at Tallgeese, "I'd think my ability to get that moving at all would be evidence I'm one of the good guys."

"You knew how to activate it," the other agreed. "But then, it would seem most of the G-weapons were also successfully activated by those who weren't supposed to, and unlike them, Tallgeese has been public knowledge for a decade. I'd think it wouldn't be too hard for ZAFT to obtain the information necessary."

Tension had begun to climb again, and it was clear the security troops were on the verge of leveling their weapons again. Murrue herself hesitated, glancing over at Kira, looking for a sign _he_ might have some thus far unmentioned proof of his friend's claims.

Kira's expression wasn't one to support such a notion. Indeed, it suggested he knew rather more than was apparent, which didn't strike her as a good sign.

Murrue felt the situation was much like with Kira; after all, Kevin could've squashed her like a bug without even firing a shot, using Tallgeese, and retrieved both it and the Strike. Such an argument was unlikely to be effective under the circumstances, though, and the moment any sudden move was made…

"It's alright, Lieutenant La Flaga," Natarle said unexpectedly, causing Mu and Murrue both to look at her sharply; she ignored them, however, her gaze fixed on the youth under fire. "…Welcome aboard, Kevin."

Kevin just looked at her for a moment, then blinked. He'd been distracted that morning, and paid more attention to the ensign's apparent military bearing than her face. Thrown by her own shades and the civilian clothing, he hadn't thought anything of it.

But thinking back now…

"_You okay, Ensign? Hang on, I'm gonna get you out of here."_

"_What… happened…?"_

"_ZLF anti-air team. Must've been expecting a transport today; usually their SAMs aren't that good. Look, we'd better get clear. I fragged their shooters, but a ground team will be here any time. They own this jungle…"_

"…Glad to see you're alive, Natarle," Kevin said at length, pulling his shades back on. "I wasn't sure your plane made it out."

"And I thought you were nuked," Natarle returned. "Though I should've known better."

Murrue stared at her. "…You two know each other?"

"It's a long story, Lieutenant," Natarle said, stepping back from the memories. "We don't really have time to go into this now. But I'll vouch for Kevin." She rubbed her right wrist, soothing a remembered ache. "I don't know if he is what he says he is," she added more quietly, "but I trust him."

"Wait a second," Mu protested. "He's just a kid! I mean, yeah, we know what Kira did, but what he's claiming-"

"Lieutenant," she interrupted, "this 'kid' saved my life more than once, three years ago." Natarle lowered her voice again. "He's older than he looks, Lieutenant. I'll explain when we have the time, but… Let's just say there's evidence to back up his claims." She glanced at Murrue. "With your permission, Lieutenant Ramius, I suggest we let him go with his friends for now."

Murrue hesitated. It was true that her own inclination was to give the sandy-haired youth a chance, if only because of Kira vouching for him, yet she had to admit Natarle had just raised as many questions as she'd answered. It was… unlike the By-The-Book ensign to vouch for someone so thoroughly unorthodox so readily.

_Not to mention what she's implying about how they met,_ she thought. _Three years ago… Natarle was assigned to the detachment in the USSA then, wasn't she? So Walker would've had to have been involved in Heaven's War. But that would mean…_

Nothing Natarle had said invalidated the other existing points, though, and if the he had indeed protected her at some point in the past, it, too, was a point in his favor.

"All right," Murrue said at length. "Kevin, feel free to go with your classmates. However," she added, raising a hand, "we'll probably want to speak to you later. You are, after all, the only one we have to pilot Tallgeese…"

Kevin nodded amiably. "Understood, Lieutenant. Just say the word." He turned, nodded briefly to Natarle, and joined his classmates as they headed into the ship.

"What was that all about?" Tolle asked him, _sotto voce_. "Three years ago…?"

"Long story," Kevin replied, voice fading into the depths of the hangar. "I'll tell you later…"

After they'd gone, Mu shook his head. "Well," he said to no one in particular, "this is certainly turning out to be a weird day. Our new prototypes get hijacked, the Tallgeese gets launched by somebody who almost certainly isn't who he claims to be, and a Coordinator kid is the reason we still have the Strike." He raised his eyebrows. "Can this day get any weirder?"

"Better not to tempt Fate, Lieutenant," Natarle said with a sigh. "I don't like this any better than you do, to be honest. But if there's one thing I learned three years ago, it's that it can _always_ get 'weirder'. And worse."

* * *

_Archangel,_ Enlisted Quarters

* * *

It was probably the first calm moment they'd had since the attack started. No longer running for their lives, nor working to prepare a mobile suit to _save_ their lives… For now there was only calm. Calm, and weariness.

On an upper bunk in the enlisted quarters they'd been temporarily assigned, Kira Yamato lay dead to the world, having fallen asleep within moments of coming to rest.

"I can't believe he's actually managing to sleep at a time like this," Kuzzey remarked, almost plaintively; he himself was sitting on the deck, leaning against a lower bunk. "I mean, come on. Everything's been turned upside since this morning; I'm so tense I can barely sit still."

"He's had a long day," Miriallia pointed out, sitting with Tolle on another bunk. "Remember, Kuzzey, he was the one actually piloting that machine. That had to have been rough on him."

"It was. Combat always is, and the first time is the worst."

Sai glanced at the other youth, who leaned against a bulkhead, running a cleaning rod down the barrel of his revolver. "You're talking from experience, aren't you, Kevin," he said quietly.

Kevin nodded, eyes shadowed behind his shades. "You could say that," he admitted. "Trust me. The only thing more exhausting than running for your life is standing your ground and fighting." He shook his head. "Gotta say, Kira did _that_ pretty well. I don't know a lot about mobile suit combat, but it's pretty impressive to take out a veteran the first time you even climb into one of the things."

"But…" Kuzzey frowned, struggling with the issue that had been raised by the confrontation in the hangar. "Didn't Kira say that the operating system was so bad he had to rewrite it almost from scratch? Something about how the machine could barely move at first?"

"So?" Tolle said, turning to him. "What's your point?"

"The point is that he was under fire the entire time," Kuzzey answered bluntly. "So… when did he have time to rewrite the OS? For that matter, who actually writes an entire _operating system_ that fast?"

There was an uncomfortable silence. They all knew what he was getting at. It was the same thing that had almost brought matters to a violent end only a few minutes earlier. The issue that might well define their own fates in the next hours.

The issue that had brought the entire war about in the first place.

Economics had been the issue, officially. The PLANTs' economic warfare in response to the sponsor nations' restrictions on them had brought tensions to a head in the late C.E. 60s, and the still-anonymous bombing of the United Nations meeting in Copernicus been supposedly been the last straw that brought about the Alaska Declaration and the first strike at Junius Seven.

But everyone knew the real cause came down to the Coordinator issue. It was the unease about Coordinators that had brought about the restrictions on the PLANTs in the first place, and it was anti-Coordinator radicalism that led to the Bloody Valentine, in which the farming colony Junius Seven was struck by a nuclear attack, and over two hundred thousand civilians died.

Outside of the PLANTs themselves and perhaps the Orb Union, Coordinators were at best looked on with a degree of distrust, and at worst were hunted like animals. And Heliopolis, though Orb territory, was not publicly known as a haven for Coordinators.

"…I'd suspected for a while now that Kira was a Coordinator," Kuzzey said quietly, looking at the deck. "He was just a little too good at things, too quick, to be a Natural. I thought I was okay with that, but…"

Tolle looked at him sidelong. "But what, Kuzzey?" he said sharply. "Now that he's saved our lives, he's suddenly a threat? Yeah, sure, he's even more capable than we realized, but he _used_ that ability to protect us."

Kuzzey raised his hands defensively. "Whoa, Tolle, take it easy. Look…" He sighed. "I'm not saying that I don't trust Kira, or that I think he's a threat. But… it's also not easy to adjust to learning the truth. And…" Kuzzey swallowed. "ZAFT is almost _all_ Coordinators. If _all_ of them can do things like that…"

There was another silence at that, this one of nervous tension. The implications were frightening, to say the least; Kira alone had rewritten an operating system in the middle of battle, and shown the new mobile suit to be extraordinarily powerful. And ZAFT had stolen _four_ of the new machines…

"…Why don't we ask someone who knows?" Sai said at length, and turned once more to the sandy-haired youth at the bulkhead. "You're one too, aren't you, Kevin?"

"I'm guessing that's not a stunning revelation," Kevin said dryly, slipping his revolver back into its holster. "When did you figure it out?"

"About when you first came to Heliopolis," Sai replied, adjusting his orange-tinted glasses. "You're more physically active than Kira; it wasn't hard to spot it with you. Of course, there's also that near incident with Lieutenant La Flaga earlier…"

"Yeah," Miriallia said slowly. "Kevin… what exactly was going on there? It's pretty obvious you're not what you've pretended to be since you've been at Heliopolis." Her gaze, turned on Kevin now, was piercing. "Just who exactly are you? What was the ensign talking about back there?"

Kevin sighed. "Telling you everything would be a bad idea," he told her. "Kira knows a lot of it, but not everything, and it's safer for all concerned. But yes, it's true I wasn't born Kevin Walker. It's as a good a name as any, though, and better than the one I _was_ born with." He closed his eyes. "Suffice to say I prefer this life to my old one."

"What, were you some kind of criminal?" Tolle joked. Then he frowned. "Uh, I hope that was a joke…"

The other youth snorted. "Hardly. I just didn't like my family life, that's all. Not that it matters now, I suppose; my parents are dead."

Miriallia winced. "…What about the things the ensign and the lieutenant were talking about? Today was Kira's first time fighting, but it sounds like it wasn't, for you."

He nodded. "I can't tell you everything -trust me, some of it gives _me_ nightmares- but yeah, I've had experience. Three years ago. The South American jungle."

Sai blinked. "You mean… you were involved in Heaven's War?"

"I was," Kevin said levelly. "So was Ensign Natarle Badgiruel. So if I seem calm about today's events, I expect you'll understand why."

Even Kuzzey caught his drift. As bad as ZAFT's sudden attack on Heliopolis was, it didn't come close to matching the reported brutality of the jungle warfare in the United States of South America, three years prior.

In C.E. 67, Heaven's War had begun in Brazil, as an attempt by zoanthropes to claim a nation of their own. Instigated by Hercule Verdot and his Zoanthrope Liberation Front, the uprising lasted over a year, and was so vicious the USSA had proven unable to suppress it themselves. As a result, the United Nations had stepped in, despite the growing tensions with the colonies, and extra-national forces had been dispatched to help put down the rebellion.

The fighting had been brutal even after that, and casualty estimates among civilians were in the millions by the end of the first year. By the end of the war, the totals were impossible to estimate, beyond the fact that they were absolutely horrifying.

Which was why much of Brazil had been both uninhabited and uninhabitable for over two years before ZAFT attacked Heliopolis.

"I ended up working with the Atlantic Federation detachment," Kevin said presently, eyes looking at something only he could see. "Operating out of a base camp about ten klicks outside Rio de Janeiro. Spent about six months in fighting through those damn jungles, tangling with ZLF and zoanthrope militia. It was…" He actually shivered then, a most unusual response from the typically laid-back young man. "It was just about the worst thing you could imagine."

"And you met that ensign there?" Tolle speculated.

"Right. She's how I came to be involved with the Atlantic Federation in the first place," Kevin admitted. "Before that… Never mind, you don't want to know. But yeah, we actually served together for a few months, back in that hell." He stared pensively at nothing. "I got out just before the nukes started dropping."

Miriallia winced. The cataclysmic end to Heaven's War, the event that transformed most of Brazil into the ironically-named "Outer Heaven" was still fresh in the public consciousness. A nuclear strike by the guerrillas, followed by an inexplicable nuclear carpet bombing by the Atlantic and Eurasian Federation detachments on the scene.

No one knew why the commanders had overreacted so severely, or how they had managed to launch such massive nuclear retaliation without the release codes from their respective governments. Nor would anyone ever know, now.

Brazil was mostly a radioactive crater. The USSA's government was in shambles. The Zoanthrope Liberation Front was obliterated. And the military commanders who ordered the strike died with them.

"…I heard ZAFT almost tried a colony drop, after Junius Seven," Kuzzey said, breaking the silence. "When the PLANTs were hit with a nuclear strike so soon after that kind of atrocity…"

"There was talk of it," Kevin agreed. "I know some people in the PLANTs. But they tell me cooler heads prevailed, barely. Something about how it's pretty well established the USSA nuking wasn't exactly sanctioned by any government. And the little matter that the PLANTs aren't completely self-sufficient yet."

"Yeah, an extinction-level event would probably be a bit extreme," Tolle agreed.

"Besides, Siegel Clyne's still in charge," Kevin noted. "Patrick Zala's been gaining strength politically, but it's still Clyne's moderates in power right now. I gather keeping public opinion from exploding cost them a lot of political capital, but they pulled it off." He grimaced. "Though it's a good thing they got the N-jammers deployed. If _another_ nuclear strike happened, I don't think they could stop a colony drop."

"Which is exactly what the N-jammers are for," Sai noted. "Though I'd lay odds they wouldn't try it now anyway; Blue Cosmos took most of the blame from the neutral nations, but if something like that happened again, their _own_ public opinion would probably crucify them." He shrugged. "Either way… I think we're a bit off-topic now." The blonde student lowered his voice. "Kevin… what do you think is really going to happen now?"

Kevin let out a breath, and jammed his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "…It doesn't look good," he admitted quietly. "I'm no expert on mobile suits, mind; I know Tallgeese, and I went through some sims a few years back, but I don't know much about using them in combat. I do know this, though: Kira's pretty exceptional, even by Coordinator standards, but any ZAFT red worth his coat is pretty damn good, too. And they _do_ know what they're doing with mobile suits."

As well they should, he didn't bother to add. Eleven months since the War began, and ZAFT still held their own, despite the Earth Alliance's massive numerical superiority. Mobile suits gave them a very generous edge over the aging mobile armors, but that wasn't everything.

If ZAFT's pilots hadn't been up to the task, sheer numbers would've overwhelmed them long since.

"So," Kevin said now. "They've got at least one ship out there, probably two; this seems to be the Le Creuset team, so that'll mean _Vesalius_ and _Gamow._ From what I understand, Lieutenant La Flaga did a real number on their GINN complement, and Kira took out one himself and put their CGUE out of action for a while. They've still got at least two of them, though, and they _did_ just steal four brand new prototypes. The home team -that's us- has the _Archangel,_ the Lieutenant's damaged mobile armor, and the Strike. Not a good balance of forces."

"You left out Tallgeese," Sai pointed out.

"Inconsequential right now," Kevin replied, shaking his head. "I told you, I don't know how to use it in combat, and I'm the only one aboard with a high enough G-tolerance to make it work right; armor and acceleration are its only advantages against modern machines. I'd be willing to take it up anyway -probably will have to, in fact- but not until its OS is updated and we make sure it's actually combat-capable after ten years in storage."

"So what are our chances?" Miriallia asked quietly, her gaze turning now to the slumbering Kira.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I'm a ground-pounder, and I can fly some small craft… but I don't know about space combat. But…" Kevin's eyes were troubled. "I know numbers. And right now, the numbers are… not in our favor."

Silence fell once more, and this one lasted. The teens were faced with a single, unpalatable truth: the peace they'd woken up with that morning had been replaced by a very real chance of death, and there was essentially nothing any of them could do about it.

_Except… maybe one,_ Kevin thought unwillingly, following Mir's gaze. _Damn it all… I never wanted him to get anywhere _near_ the kinds of things I went through. But he took out a GINN all by himself, rewrote a mobile suit's operating system mid-battle, and drove off Rau Le Creuset._

_Kira should never have been anywhere near a war. That's my job… and maybe Elisa's. But right now, he may be our only hope._

_

* * *

_

_Archangel,_ Bridge

* * *

Murrue sighed wearily, placing the handset back on the chair's armrest. She had never expected to find herself in the center chair, certainly not as senior officer, and she already found the idea was considerably less appealing in practice than it had been in theory.

"Well," she remarked to her fellow officers, "we've at least got one fewer worry. I just checked with Heliopolis' central authority -what's left of it, anyway- and they inform me all surviving civilians have made it into shelters."

Mu, occupying the chair meant for _Archangel_'s now-deceased copilot, winced. "Surviving… Well, I guess it would've been more surprising if there _hadn't_ been casualties in the middle of this. ZAFT was pretty indiscriminate with their fire, especially when you had it out with that GINN."

She grimaced. "Unfortunately true. And the new hole in the outer wall isn't helping either; at the current rate of depressurization, the colony will be vacuum in a bit over an hour. Mister Murdoch's people will have finished scavenging supplies by then, but still…"

"It's still a relief, Ma'am," Natarle interjected; she sat two meters to Murrue's left, in a chair ordinarily intended for a flag officer. "Those shelters double as life pods; if anything… catastrophic happens, they'll be in the clear."

Murrue nodded. As with any current space colony, even a design as old as an Island-Three, Heliopolis' shelters were not only hardened against outside damage -more against possible meteor damage than the effects of battle, but formidable nonetheless- but also capable of detaching from the colony entirely, in the event of catastrophe.

In fact, if she remembered right, they were capable of surviving atmospheric reentry, which could be a definite plus, under the circumstances. If an event significant enough to threaten the colony's integrity occurred, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to hang around in its vicinity afterwards.

"You've got a point there," Mu acknowledged. "But, ah… what do we do about those kids? I know what you said about Walker, Ensign, but the others…"

"We can't just let them leave now," Natarle replied at once. "They've been exposed to military secrets; they've seen first-hand the most sensitive technology the Earth Alliance has right now."

"Isn't that kind of a moot point?" he countered, raising his hands. "I mean, ZAFT _did_ just steal four of the G-weapons, so it's not like _they're_ much of a secret anymore. Unless of course," he added sardonically, "you're saying we try to get them back somehow. With our _single_ G-weapon."

"ZAFT still knows almost nothing about the _Archangel,_" Natarle said stubbornly, ignoring the sarcastic comment. "This ship has the first practical positron weapons, not to mention the most sophisticated computers, engines, sensors, and such in the entire fleet."

"And yet you're willing to let Walker see it all, and then go on his merry way once we're no longer of use to him," Mu drawled.

"Walker is almost certainly a covert operative of Orb," she answered tightly, "and Orb already _designed_ this ship. It's an entirely different-"

"Enough," Murrue interrupted sharply, unwilling to deal with the clashing personalities. "It doesn't matter anyway. The remaining shelters are not only full, but sealed; they're not opening again until the situation stabilizes, or they're ejected and safely on Earth. At this point, Lieutenant La Flaga, we don't have any choice, unless we want to take responsibility for their deaths. If fighting breaks out again, which it almost certainly will, they _will_ die unprotected. Aboard ship, they have a chance."

Mu let out a breath, considering. Then, almost unwillingly, he nodded. "Understood, Lieutenant. I just… don't want to risk them any more than we have to. I've seen a lot people die in this war, lots of them not much older than they are. My fellows in the Möbius Zero Corps at least volunteered for this."

"I understand, Lieutenant," Murrue said softly. "But the best we can do for them is protect this ship, now." She tilted her head. "Can we?"

"Depends," he answered, frowning. "I took out two of their GINNs outside the colony, and the kid took out one more and disabled Le Creuset's CGUE. One got away from me, though, and they've probably got a spare for the guy who bailed out. The only good news is that they probably can't use the G-weapons against us just yet. Unfortunately, all _we_ have are the Strike, the Tallgeese -which apparently we can't even use yet- and my damaged Zero. Not very confidence inspiring."

Murrue nodded. Murdoch's mechanics had been unable to spare much attention yet for the antique Tallgeese -whose biggest problem seemed to be its outdated software- as they were spending most of their energy on gathering as much supplies as they could and repairing the Möbius Zero.

As the _Archangel_ hadn't even been intended to deploy yet, her cupboards were uncomfortably bear. And as the Zero had lost literally every single one of its weapons in battle with a CGUE… The combination meant Murdoch's people were busy, and that the ship was low on defensive possibilities.

"If the Zero's damaged," Natarle mused, frowning, "why couldn't you pilot the Strike, Lieutenant La Flaga?"

Mu snorted. "Me? Ensign, have you _seen_ what that kid did to the OS? I'm not much of a computer guy as it is, but I can tell you it's _way_ beyond anything the programmers in the G-Project even thought of." He shook his head. "Fact is, there's no way I could fly it. I don't think any Natural could, as it stands; the new OS takes into account operating parameters I've never seen a Natural match."

Murrue's eyebrows went up at that. Mu La Flaga was not called the "Hawk of Endymion" for nothing; even with a Möbius Zero, his feat of personally shooting down five GINNs was a sign of one of the greatest pilots the Earth Alliance had at their disposal.

If _he_ doubted a Natural could pilot it…

"Well, then," Natarle began uncertainly, "we should make him change it back… to the way it was…" She trailed off, recognizing even as she spoke the problem with that.

"There wouldn't be any point," Mu told her, confirming it. "I saw the pilots actually intended for those machines train, and they could barely even get them to move. Better an operating system that only a special person could use than one that _nobody_ can use effectively." He glanced meaningfully at Murrue.

She almost wished she hadn't understood the glance. "You're probably right," she admitted softly. "I don't want to do it, but… That is, _if_ he agrees."

Natarle glanced between the two, momentarily puzzled, and then her eyes widened. "Wait a second," she protested. "You can't seriously be suggesting we put that kid back in the cockpit! He's just a kid, and a Coordinator on top of that!"

"It's not like we have a lot of choice," Mu pointed out. "Like I said, a Natural isn't going to pilot that thing. And security measures a bit pointless now, seeing as he's _already_ flown it in combat."

She shook her head. "He did what he had to under duress. I'm grateful he did it, but that's still not the same as _deliberately_ putting him in that situation. He's not even a citizen of one of the Earth Alliance member states, and even if he was, he's not a soldier." Natarle turned to Murrue. "Lieutenant Ramius, if you're going to insist on a Coordinator-"

"No," Murrue said firmly, catching her drift. "I'm willing to take your word that Walker can be trusted, Ensign, but in the first place, _he's_ the only one we have who can fly Tallgeese, if it comes to it. Moreover, he's neither a trained mobile suit pilot nor someone who's demonstrated native ability in one. He _may_ have it, but I can't bet the ship and the crew's lives on that."

"Whereas Kira Yamato already disabled a GINN and forced Rau Le Creuset to retreat," Mu agreed. "And all due respect to the ensign, but I don't quite trust that creepy guy. Those eyes of his… He's not normal." He shook his head. "No. I don't think we've got any choice.

"If, that is, we can convince him to do it in the first place."

* * *

_Vesalius,_ Pilots' Ready Room

* * *

Through the viewport, the GINNs allocated for the next strike could be seen, mechanics swarming over them as the heavy equipment was brought out from storage. Previously, they'd been deployed with anti-mobile weapon loadouts; now they were mounting up with heavy weaponry, of the kind typically used against hard targets.

"I'm not sure I like this," green-haired young Nicol Amalfi said quietly. "D-package weaponry… that's meant for taking out fortresses, not ships and mobile suits. And inside a colony…"

"Not a lot of choice," Dearka Elsman said, shrugging. "Miguel's ion cannon is about the only thing we've _got_ that can hurt that new armor, and that ship blasted its way out of a blocked harbor without frying itself in the process. That's some tough armor, too."

"I realize that," Nicol retorted. "But this is a _neutral_ colony, Dearka, and we're about to be throwing around heavy firepower in it. The potential for collateral damage is high, that could result in an international incident." He winced. "If it hasn't already, that is."

Yzak Joule snorted, and sipped from a zero-g water bottle. "They were the ones who blew a _hole_ in the colony wall," he pointed out derisively. "And it was their missiles that took out part of the axial column. 'Cept for when Miguel was forced to self-destruct, it's been the Earth Forces doing the real damage here; our targets have been a lot more precise."

"Besides," Dearka added, "it's a little late for them to whine about their 'neutrality'. This joint venture of theirs with the Earth Forces must've started months ago. If they wanted to stay 'neutral' they shouldn't have invited the Earth Alliance in."

"Does that make it right to inflict this on the civilians?" Nicol demanded. "How many of _them_ do you think knew about this? It's not their fault their leaders did this."

"By now, everybody's in the shelters," the blonde pilot said patiently. "An Island-Three's shelters will stand up to anything short of a direct hit from even D-package weaponry, and maybe even that. Relax, Nicol, and remember we're fighting a _war_ here." He shook his head. "We didn't start it. Hell, we tried as much as we could to avoid it. But after everything they did to us, it's too late to be worrying too much about the cost. We don't have a choice anymore."

"Right," Yzak agreed, waving a hand dismissively. "You're too soft, Nicol. It comes down to this: if they get those new machines into mass-production, we lose the edge that's kept us going for the past year. That ship will just make things worse." The silver-haired youth shrugged. "They started it. We're just going to finish it."

Beyond the transparent aluminum separating them from the hangar, the GINNs finished mounting up, and headed one by one for the launch catapult. The pilots were eager to finish off the unexpectedly dangerous new foes, and avenge the comrades who'd fallen to get them this far.

Miguel in particular had no intention of letting the Strike survive. Through it, a Natural had humiliated him, and that same Natural had killed Rusty Mackenzie to get that far. If it was the last Miguel Aiman did, he would avenge Rusty and his own pride.

Nicol, watching this, was about to reply to Yzak's last remark when something else caught his eye. The trio of GINNs had launched, and catapult operations were supposed to be complete now; so what was…?

His companions noticed it, too. "Well, well," Dearka said, whistling, "what have we here? Mister By-The-Book is playing hooky?"

On the other side of the viewport, the captured GAT-X303 Aegis had moved away from its place beside Le Creuset's damaged CGUE, and entered the launch area. Before their startled eyes, it lifted off the deck, and leapt out into space.

Yzak blinked. "Wow. Somebody's in a hurry to try out their new toy." He glanced at Dearka. "I didn't think Athrun had it in him."

"Me either." Dearka whistled tonelessly again. "Wonder what he's up to. And if he thinks being the son of the Defense Committee Chairman will protect him from getting in trouble over it."

* * *

_Vesalius, _Bridge

* * *

"He's done what?!" Fredrik Ades said incredulously.

"_Athrun just launched in the Aegis,"_ the chief mechanic repeated over the intercom. _"Just entered the queue and took off like he had orders or something. I thought they weren't ready yet?"_

"They're not!" Ades snapped. "Recall him! He had no orders to-"

"Let him go, Ades," Le Creuset interrupted, gripping the back of Ades' chair. "This could be an excellent opportunity for us."

The captain glanced back at him in confusion. "Sir?"

"If it comes to it, the three machines on _Gamow_ will be sufficient to bring back to the Homeland," Le Creuset explained. "Powerful as they seem to be, their real value is in their data. But if we can also bring back combat data, well… I should say that would be an added bonus." He nodded to himself. "We'll overlook it for now. I'll be sure to ask him about his intentions when he returns, but I'm inclined to let him off the hook."

"…Understood, Sir." Ades didn't quite comprehend his commander's reasoning, but he acknowledged he didn't really have to. He knew he wasn't the most brilliant man; very competent, but hardly a prodigy even in his specialty.

This wouldn't be the first time he failed to fully understand Le Creuset's decisions, and undoubtedly wouldn't be the last. The important thing was that whether or not Ades understood them, they _did_ generally bring about results.

_But that does leave the question of why Athrun is doing this,_ Ades mused. _He always seemed like the steadiest of the new kids. It's not like him to disobey orders and head off like that…_

Toward the aft of the bridge, the armored figure of Invictus was curiously still, muscles taut beneath the protective exoskeleton. Unlike Ades, he understood his boss' reasoning perfectly… and unlike even said boss, he had a shrewd idea of what was going through the pilot's mind.

_Damn,_ Invictus thought. _Guess I was right about Kira being here; that's about the only thing that could set him off like this. Well, unless he found out about… No. Not Hydra; he wouldn't recognize Kevin at a glance anymore. No, it has to be Kira._

_Which means my life just got more complicated. Damn it to hell, Kira, you should never have been part of our world. The things Kevin and I have seen and done, the things _you'll_ have to do if you're in the position I think you are… Damn it all to hell._

_Kevin, what the hell are you doing, and why aren't you keeping Kira from becoming… like us?_

_

* * *

_

_Archangel,_ Enlisted Quarters

* * *

"No! I won't do it!"

Murrue winced; the youth's reaction to the suggestion had been even more vehement than she'd expected. Considering that he had, at least, been convinced to aid her in preparing the Strike hours earlier, and had possessed enough initiative to attack Le Creuset, she'd hoped for at least a slightly more positive response.

_Although come to think of it, that last shot of his might be part of _why_ he's refusing. It wasn't his fault, but still…_

"Kira," she began, "I understand your feelings, but-"

"You don't understand at all!" Kira fired back angrily. "I am not part of your war! None of us are! We already helped you get the Strike onto this ship; why should we do anything more? Our part in this is over!"

Murrue closed her eyes. "I wish it were, Kira," she said softly. "You're right, this isn't your war. And if I had any alternative, I wouldn't be asking this of you. But the fact is, I _don't_ have one. The Le Creuset team is still out there, and we're still in danger."

"So what?" Kira demanded. "You're not alone now, Lieutenant; you've got Lieutenant La Flaga, and this entire ship. You don't need me any more!"

Behind him, Kuzzey was nodding. The others were more uncertain, and Kevin was completely inscrutable, but Kuzzey agreed completely. As far as he was concerned, they were just passengers now; it was time to let the military handle things.

Murrue could read that in his expression, and winced inwardly. That kind of attitude was… unhelpful, to put it mildly. The ship was undermanned as it was, dangerously so; not even having a pilot for their one combat-ready mobile suit could well be catastrophic. Encouraging Kira's obstinacy was exactly what she didn't need.

_I don't blame them, but this is a matter of life and death!_

"Yes, Kira," she told him now, "we _do_ still need you. You're the only one who can pilot the Strike, and the Lieutenant's mobile armor is still out of action. We _need_ the Strike, Kira. If they attack again, the ship's defenses won't be enough to stop them."

Kira's hands clenched into fists, and forced himself to calm down. Acting like a sulky kid wasn't going to help his arguments any.

No matter how much he actually _felt_ like a sulky kid.

"Lieutenant," he began quietly, "I know the ship is in danger. But I am not a soldier. I don't know _how_ to be a soldier. You're better off asking-"

The shrill beep from the nearby intercom panel interrupted him.

Swallowing in sudden unease, Murrue crossed to the bulkhead and keyed the microphone. "Lieutenant La Flaga?"

"_We've got trouble,"_ Mu said bluntly. _"Three heat signatures just entered the colony. GINNs. And something behind them we're not sure about yet. You've got to get up and assume command! You're the captain now!"_

Her stomach suddenly seemed to be in freefall. "Me?" Murrue said tautly. She was the senior surviving officer actually assigned to the ship, but the other lieutenant was…

"_I may have seniority,"_ Mu told her, understanding her silent question, _"but I don't know a thing about this ship. I'm a pilot, not a command officer. It's got to be you… Ma'am."_

Murrue swallowed hard. She'd been aiming for an eventual command of her own, of course; it was the dream of any line officer. But she was only a lieutenant, with little experience of her own in actual combat. Inheriting command after the deaths of every single officer of higher rank, in the middle of a situation like this…

_I don't have a choice, do I?_

"I'm on my way, Lieutenant," she heard someone say in a voice that sounded like hers, but far calmer than she would have believed possible. "Your Zero?"

"_Not ready yet. I'm afraid it's up to the Strike, Ma'am."_

"…Understood. I'll be right there." Murrue signed off, and turned back to Kira.

Before she could speak, though, she caught the look on his face. "…There's no choice, is there?" he whispered. "I… I don't think I can do this. But…" Kira straightened, and looked over his shoulder at his classmates. "Kevin?"

Kevin had been waiting for the question. "The way I see it, Kira," he said softly, "it comes down to personal responsibility. Forget protecting us. Forget protecting the ship, even. Think of it this way: if you have the ability to protect yourself, to take responsibility for your own safety… shouldn't you? Is it right to ask someone else to fight and even die for you, when you have the strength to act for yourself?"

Kira nodded slowly, unwillingly. "Yeah," he whispered. "That's… that's what I was thinking. Do you think I _can?"_

"You stand a better chance than I do," the other said bluntly. "I think I can tame Tallgeese… when I have the time, and when I have a new OS for it. _You_ already disabled a GINN in single combat despite never having been within shouting distance of a mobile suit before." He shook his head. "…If I had my way, Kira, you'd never have to do this. But right now, it's do or die."

"…Thanks, Kevin."

Miriallia, heretofore silent, blurted, "Are you sure, Kira?"

"No," Kira admitted. "But it doesn't look like I've got much of a choice, does it?" He turned to Murrue. "I don't know if I can forgive you people for putting us in this situation," he stated flatly. "But," he went on, tone softening, "you're right, and so is Kevin. It's my life on the line either way, so I've got a responsibility to act. If it gives us all a better chance of surviving…" He shrugged.

Murrue sighed in undisguised relief. "Thank you, Kira. In that case, please head for the hangar. I have to get to the bridge; we don't have much time." Her gaze moved to Kevin. "What about you?"

"I'm no good in a fight right now," the soldier admitted. "Tallgeese isn't ready, and I don't know jack about shipboard systems. I'll go work on my machine for now; your mechanics are gonna be too busy with other things for a while."

She nodded. "Then let's all get going. And… good luck, Kira."

* * *

_Archangel,_ Hangar

* * *

As Kira walked nervously into the vast compartment at the ship's core, emerging onto a catwalk a dozen meters above the deck, he took a moment to reflect anxiously on what he was about to do… and who it was he might be about to meet. It was true, and he'd known it even before Kevin said it: it all came down to taking responsibility for himself.

_Except it's more than that,_ Kira thought, swallowing hard. _It's why I have to do this… but I'm doing more than protecting myself. I've got the weight of this ship, and Sai, Tolle, and everybody, riding on me. I've never… never done anything like this before._

He'd taken control of the Strike twice before, but there hadn't really been time to think about it during either event. He'd reacted, purely on instinct, hardly knowing what he was doing. This time… This time he'd made a premeditated decision to go into battle.

Kira Yamato was terrified.

Glancing over at Tallgeese, standing silently beside the Strike, Kira spotted Kevin just slipping into its cockpit, and managed to catch his eye. He'd just thought of something…

Kevin raised an eyebrow questioningly, and Kira responded by tapping his pocket, within which was a comm unit, originally a fairly standard commercial model, but which had been tinkered with by Kevin in calmer times.

The sandy-haired youth nodded fractionally, and disappeared into Tallgeese.

Kojiro Murdoch, following behind, had missed the exchange entirely, and now reached over to grip Kira's shoulder. "You sure you're up to this, kid?" he asked quietly. "I mean, if you are, you're brave as hell. But man…"

"Scared to death, actually," Kira admitted, shrugging. "But… it's not like there's anyone else who can do it, right? Don't get me wrong, I'm not brave, I'm just… more scared of what happens if I _don't_ do it."

"That's the definition of bravery, kid," Murdoch told him, smiling now. "Hell, Kira, you think _any_ of us are calm? Even the Lieutenant's probably scared out of his mind, and he was at Endymion. Even Ensign Badgiruel, and she was in Heaven's War." He shook his head. "Nah, you're doing fine, kid. Just keep your head on straight."

"Thanks, Mister Murdoch." Obscurely, Kira felt better now, knowing he wasn't the only one frightened of what was about to happen. "How long?"

"About five minutes, I'd say." The mechanic jerked a thumb toward the bow. "We're about to lift off; need the room to maneuver. Besides, we still need to get the Striker packs locked in tight." He patted the young Coordinator's shoulder, and stepped back. "Godspeed, kid."

"Thanks," Kira said again, and stepped -not without trepidation- into the Strike's cockpit once more.

Swinging into the pilot's seat with what was becoming uncomfortably easy familiarity, Kira reached for the restraints, locking himself in tight, and pulled down the system keyboard. If anyone asked, he was about to go over the modifications he'd made to the OS one more time. In truth, it was a handy excuse.

Kira drew out the comm, punched in a complicated code he'd never actually used before, and waited a beat. "Kevin?"

"_Here,"_ came the prompt response, as Kira had expected. Kevin had told him once that that transmission setting would reach him anywhere, any time, without risk of being overheard; he hadn't explained why, but Kira had come to have his suspicions. _"You okay, tovarisch?"_

"No," Kira said bluntly. "But I don't think you were when you killed those ZAFT guys either, so I'll deal with it. You got a minute?"

"_Sure. Not much I can actually do with this beast myself just now; I'm doing what I can with the OS, but I'm mostly just cataloguing the problem areas so you can deal with it more efficiently when you have the time."_ Kira could almost see his friend's grimace. _"This kind of programming never was my specialty."_

"I remember." Kira took a deep breath. "Kevin… can you access the Strike's telemetry?"

"_Easily,"_ Kevin's voice was tinged with mock disdain. _"Making programs is hard. Breaking 'em easy. What do you need?"_

"I want you to keep an eye on the Strike's status… and my communications," Kira told him. "I'm pretty sure we can trust this ship's crew, but I'd still feel better knowing someone I _do_ know is watching."

The soldier hesitated. _"Kira… I don't know that Tallgeese's computers are up to that kind of data flow. They're not exactly cutting edge."_

Another, deeper breath; Kira was about to enter territory they'd never explicitly discussed. "…I didn't say anything about Tallgeese, Kevin. I want to know if _you_ can do it."

The pause on the other end was long and heavy, this time, and Kira knew he'd struck the mark. Kevin had never said much about what had been done to him, how he'd changed so much in the years he'd been missing, but Kira was neither stupid nor unobservant. Or ignorant, for that matter.

Combining clues he'd noticed over the past year with what he'd seen of Kevin's behavior when they came face to face with a ZAFT commando team, Kira had put his knowledge of engineering to good use in what spare moments he'd had since the attack started.

"…_I'll jack in right away,"_ Kevin said at last, warily. _"Tallgeese can't interpret the data very well, but its comm systems can at least handle relaying the signal."_

Kira let out the breath he'd been holding. At least Kevin still wasn't inclined to outright lie to him… "Thanks. And, Kevin… when this is over, we need to talk."

"_Not about everything,"_ Kevin replied at once, regaining some of his usual poise. _"Not while the war is still on, and not while the Knights of the Eastern Calculus are still on the loose."_

The younger pilot blinked. He hadn't realized Kevin had even _heard_ of the Knights, though he probably should have; moreover, though, it hadn't occurred to him that the mysterious group might somehow be pertinent to whatever secrets Kevin was still keeping.

_No time for that now, though._ Indeed, Kira could feel the ship lifting off, breaking away from the simulated gravity brought by Heliopolis' spin. Now he was just moments from air… moments from fighting again.

Possibly moments from an encounter he devoutly hoped he was wrong about.

"Maybe not everything," Kira conceded. "But some of it. I need to know, Kevin."

"_Maybe,"_ Kevin admitted. _"We'll see. Till then… Keep yourself alive. Today's not the end of the road for us."_

"No, it's not. …Later, Kevin." Kira signed off, shut the comm, and stuffed it back into his pocket. He wished he could've brought himself to mention what he suspected… but he couldn't. Not yet. Not until he knew for sure.

They'd lost too much already.

Before Kira could be lost to melancholy, the Strike's own radio crackled to life, its internal line to the ship coming active. _"You ready, kid?"_ Murdoch called.

"Ready as I'll ever be," he acknowledged, swallowing again.

"_Take it easy, Kira. This won't be like the last time. Okay, we're giving you the Sword pack this time out. You see the specs on your screen?"_

Kira tapped a quick information request into the Strike's computers, bringing up the indicated data, and nodded to himself. _Close combat,_ he thought, relieved. _I'll have to get close… but it means there won't be a repeat of last time._ He shuddered, remembering the unexpected power of the cannon he'd fired on the CGUE, unwittingly blasting a hole in the colony's outer wall.

"I see it," he said aloud. "Looks simple."

"_Simple is better,"_ Murdoch agreed. _"Okay. Got the signal from the bridge; we're moving you to the catapult now. Be ready."_

"Right."

Kira Yamato had been forced into battle twice now, by circumstance. Events had moved so quickly, so chaotically, that he'd had no choice.

This time, he _had_ chosen… and come what may, Kira would accept the consequences. Whatever choices the universe might present, there was only one he could take and still live with himself.

_When we're out of danger, I'll go home to Orb. But to get that far… to make sure my _friends_ get that far… I have to do this._

_

* * *

_

_Archangel,_ Bridge

* * *

Murrue's gaze was fixed on the forward viewport, as the _Archangel_ lifted into the air. This was it; for the first time since being assigned to the G-weapon project, she was entering battle… and this time, it was as the commander of a ship.

She still didn't think she was ready for the responsibility. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be much choice; she either had to learn on the job, or die trying.

_And I have no intention of letting this crew die._

"Our sole priority at this point is to escape the colony," Murrue announced to the bridge crew. "As long as we're in here, we're vulnerable… and limited in firing options. The colony has already been damaged; we can't afford to hit it again ourselves."

Behind her, in CIC, the mood was dark. "I don't think that's possible," Tonomura murmured to himself. "The _Archangel_'s weapons aren't meant for this kind of work…"

Next to him, Natarle glanced at him sharply, but didn't dispute the point. She'd already discovered herself the perils of firing _anything_ under these conditions, against a pilot of sufficient skill. Le Creuset's maneuvers had already turned her own attempt at fighting back into collateral damage.

Making matters worse, she suspected the ZAFT forces didn't especially care whether they made the situation worse.

"Thermo-pattern detected, Ma'am," Tonomura announced, staring intently at his display. "Checking catalogue… It's a GINN."

Opposite him, at one of the ECM stations, Mu tapped in a command to bring up visual data. "One GINN?" he muttered. "Le Creuset knows better than that…"

He trailed off as the feed from _Archangel_'s exterior cameras came up, and a computer-enhanced image of the target appeared on his display. It was a GINN, alright; no mistaking the green armor, stubby wings, and monoeye sensor.

Or the quartet of heavy missiles on its launch racks.

"What the hell are they _thinking?"_ he exclaimed. "Those are heavy weapons, bunker-busters! Are they planning on using them _inside_ the colony?!"

Mu thought it was about as bad as it was going to get. Then Murphy made his fell presence known, in the form of an explosion off in the distance.

Along one of the colony's exterior walls, a heavy blow blasted debris, flame, and smoke into the interior; then the flames snuffed out, and the debris and smoke were sucked back outside, succumbing to the sudden vacuum.

Two more mobile suits entered in their place.

"Additional bogeys entering from the Tanenbaum District, Ma'am," Tonomura called unnecessarily. "Checking patterns… Two more GINNs."

He didn't have to add that they, too, were carrying heavy weaponry.

"Launch the Strike," Natarle instructed. _Three GINNs,_ she thought. _Could be worse. We know the Strike -and the kid- can handle at least one, and our weapons should be able to-_

"Additional contact!" Tonomura barked. He tapped a quick data request into his panel, and his face paled. "This one's an X-number, Captain! X303 Aegis has entered the colony!"

Murrue's head whipped around. "They're already sending it into battle against us?" she said incredulously. "It can't possibly be ready!"

"Ready or not, here it comes," Mu snapped, conditioned calm from a dozen battlefields snapping between him and his own fear. "Whatever it may once have been, it's _theirs_ now. Are you going to just sit back and let it sink us?"

Natarle forced her attention back to her displays. "Get the Strike out there immediately!" she barked. "Load missiles tubes with Korinthos; activate laser designator!"

"That won't help with the Aegis," Murrue said grimly, remembering her own experience -near-death experience, in fact- in a G-weapon, and the one thing that had kept her alive long enough for Kira to take over. "Phase-shift armor will ignore missiles… Activate the Gottfrieds."

There was a brief stillness in CIC. "Captain," Mu pointed out quietly, "those aren't meant for anti-mobile suit work. In this situation…"

"I'm aware of that, Lieutenant," she said sharply. "However," Murrue went on more gently, "we don't have much of a choice. Phase-shift can be worn down eventually, but even with our firepower it would take more time than we have. The Gottfrieds are the only weapons we have, short of the Lohengrins, that can bypass that."

"…Right," Mu acknowledged. "Let's do this. I'm taking over firing control now."

Murrue nodded. "Fire at will!"

On the dorsal surfaces of the _Archangel_'s "legs" panels slid back, allowing the squared-off shapes of turrets to emerge and extend their barrels. There was a brief pause for targeting, and then the Gottfried Mk. 71 cannons spat paired bolts of 225cm particle beam death.

* * *

Heliopolis, Colony Interior

* * *

As Mu suggested, Gottfried beam cannons weren't intended for surface to air operations; moreover, the GINN pilots -and Athrun Zala- were members of the elite Le Creuset team, among the very best ZAFT had to offer.

The ZAFT machines scattered to the sides, allowing the columns of emerald energy to harmlessly scorch by.

Luckily for the colony, the beams were not at full power; only the foresight of the _Archangel_'s crew allowed the particle beams to lose cohesion before they could smash into the colony wall, with devastating results.

Miguel Aiman bared his teeth in a derisive grin. "Here it comes," he called, gesturing toward the white ship with the heavy ion cannon his GINN carried. "Olor, Matthew, get the ship! Athrun," he added, catching sight of a speck emerging from the _Archangel_'s hull, "show us that same spirit that made you defy orders!"

Athrun, watching that speck gain detail and reveal itself to be a mobile suit, pushed down the icy lump in his gut. "Sure," he said, with far more calm than he felt. He knew his duty, knew the approaching mobile suit to be his enemy… yet he still couldn't bring himself to raise his rifle.

He couldn't fire. Not until he knew the truth.

Miguel had no such compunctions. Even as the _Archangel_'s Gottfrieds continued to fire, and its CIWS opened up on Olor and Matthew, he stared intently at the machine that had humiliated him.

"You're going down this time, Natural," he snarled. "This time that fancy armor of yours can't save you."

Within the Strike's cockpit, Kira Yamato swallowed his sudden terror. There was no time to think, no _time_ to be afraid… _I gotta do this!_ Reaching behind his machine's right shoulder, he drew the massive, fifteen-meter Schwert Gewehr antiship sword, swung it out ahead, and brought its laser edge to life.

At least, a corner of his mind thought distantly, he didn't have to worry about accidentally blowing another hole in the colony wall.

Then Miguel opened up with his enormous cannon, and Kira threw himself to one side, letting the ion stream burn past, missing the Strike completely… but unlike the _Archangel_'s earlier shot, it was not quite so harmless. Intended to tear through hardened bunkers, the energy discharge had no trouble at all eating into one of the cables anchoring the colony's central pillar.

Never intended to stand up to that kind of energy release, a three-meter section of cable literally melted, leaving one end dangling from the central pillar, and the other end to fall away, obeying centrifugal force…

Crashing into the colony floor with enough force to topple buildings.

Kira's eyes went wide. "No! That's not-!"

"You can't dodge forever, Natural!" Smirking, Miguel fired again, forcing the Strike to throw itself away again; this time the bolt smashed into a building, vaporizing it in a searing flash.

_Not again!_ Kira cried out silently. _This is what I'm trying to _stop! _If you keep doing this, you'll-!_

He gritted his teeth. Obviously, staying on the defense was a losing proposition. It was time to do something more proactive.

Hands so tight on his controls that his knuckles turned white, Kira threw power into his verniers, and charged right at the GINN.

Miguel grinned. "Now _that's_ more like it, Natural!" Throwing his own machine's thrust into reverse, he flew backward, lined up for another shot, and fired… and this time, had the satisfaction of seeing the massive emerald bolt impact solidly on the triangular object on the Strike's left arm. "Did I get it?!"

A huge of flash of white light obscured his target, and for a moment Miguel thought he'd succeeded.

Then a wordless yell erupted, and the Strike burst out of the flash, swinging its huge sword. Miguel, letting out a startled oath, swerved to one side, almost losing a leg before he could get out of the way, and another clumsy slash almost tore him in half anyway.

"Son of a bitch!" Miguel blurted, and fired hurriedly.

The Strike took that shot, too, on the triangular object -which Miguel now recognized as some kind of buckler shield- and raced after him.

In a battle between enormous cannon and huge sword, GINN and G-weapon, the hunter had become the hunted, and the battle was truly on.

* * *

_Nazca_-class Destroyer _Marie Curie,_ Bridge

* * *

In the darkness of space, hidden by a resource satellite floating a bare thousand kilometers from Heliopolis, another ship hung silently, engines and exterior lighting inactive… a veritable hole in space. Conventional wisdom held that stealth in space was near impossible; practically speaking, in the age of N-jammers and radar-absorbent materials, a ship with a little cover could conceal herself quite well.

Despite what the average person might think, after all, even the area immediately around a planet was a _lot_ of space.

On _Marie Curie_'s bridge, a man with a long coat over his red uniform stood by the forward viewport, gazing out at the vastness of space that was his home. Technically speaking, he was not supposed to be here, he supposed. He was in a position of considerable latitude, but he suspected this was not quite what his superiors had in mind.

The brown-haired commander, however, frankly did not give a damn.

"So Rau has attacked Heliopolis directly?" he said quietly. "It's confirmed he acted without orders from the Homeland?"

"Yeah, Boss," _Marie Curie_'s enormous captain rumbled, standing by the plotting table in the aft. "He received confirmation of the new prototypes, and went in…" He paused, consulting the display. "Six hours ago. One hour into the operation, our drone observed a hole being blasted in Heliopolis' outer wall, and Commander Le Creuset's CGUE exited not long after, apparently damaged."

"Damaged?" The commander lifted an eyebrow. "Interesting… Presupposing the Möbius Zero didn't prove more effective in a pressurized environment than I expect, the new mobile suits must be quite something."

He spoke from personal experience. The commander knew as well as anyone -and better than most- that Rau Le Creuset was a devilishly skilled pilot, on top of being one of ZAFT's most cunning commanders. If he'd encountered something that forced _him_ to retreat, particularly considering that any mobile suit pilot the Earth Forces had would by definition be a rookie…

"Well," the commander said at length, "that does lend some credence to Rau's actions, I will admit. If the new weapons are that dangerous, I expect he'll be able to justify his actions to the Homeland easily enough… mostly. What else do we know?"

"The _Marseilles III_ the Hawk of Endymion came in on was destroyed," the captain reported. "Cost one GINN an arm, before Commander Le Creuset sortied personally and drew the Zero into the colony, but they got it. Also, four G-weapons were observed reaching the _Vesalius_ and _Gamow."_

"Intriguing…" The commander reached up and absently rubbed the patch covering part of his face. "That will be quite the feather in Rau's cap; not only shut down part of the Earth Alliance's new operations, but managed to capture four of their five prototypes in the process…" He turned away from the viewport. "Current status of the Le Creuset team's operations?"

"They sent three GINNs back in less than ten minutes ago," the captain replied, checking the plot. "Also… one of the prototypes, looks like." He grimaced. "Blew a hole in the colony wall to get there, though."

"Typical." The commander shook his head. "Well. That's not really our primary concern here, is it? I didn't take advantage of my Special Forces status and come out here for the battle. Lance, make it a priority to acquire the data the Le Creuset team recovers from the prototypes. The Initiative will find it… useful, I suspect."

"Understood, Boss," the captain called Lance acknowledged. "In the meantime, I'll see about getting that drone closer; we could probably use any combat observational data we can get."

"Excellent." The commander turned back to the viewport. "I've a bad feeling about this, Lance. Today… I think today is going to be significant somehow. As Rau might say, I have a sixth sense about these things…" His expression tightened. "And I'm very uneasy about the fighting going on inside that colony. Heliopolis is already damaged; any stray fire could be catastrophic."

"I'll keep you posted, Boss." Lance promised.

* * *

Heliopolis, Colony Interior/_Archangel_, Bridge

* * *

Missiles, meant for destroying the most hardened bunkers, hurtled down toward the _Archangel_'s hull, met by burst after burst of 76mm CIWS from the ship's Igelstellungs. So far, none of them reached the _Archangel…_ but there were a lot missiles. In addition to the heavy bunker-busters, both GINNs were mounted with micro-missile launchers, and were intent on using them to saturate the ship's defenses.

"Intercept them!" Natarle barked, as another wave of missiles flew toward them. "Defense pattern Delta-Four-"

"No time," Chandra said tensely. "They're too close!"

His words were punctuated by a series of explosions, shaking the mighty ship's bones. Tearing into the hull, they were _Archangel_'s first combat wounds. They were not likely to be the last.

"Damage to Number Four weapons' bank," Chandra shouted over the din of alarms and tortured machinery. "Seal off bulkheads on the double!"

"Damn it," Mu swore. "Enough of this. I'm locking in on those GINNs!"

"Do it," Murrue concurred. "Mister Neumann, forty degrees to port, twenty degrees left ascension!"

_Archangel_ rolled and came around, giving the Hawk of Endymion and his computers time to locate and lock onto the pesky gnats trying to obliterate them.

* * *

Heliopolis, Shelter

* * *

The lighting had gone to emergency red, and shock after shock continued to rock the shelter. Some occupants were close to panic; even those who weren't realized another battle must've started within the colony.

"_**Hazard Level has been increased to Ten,"**_ an incongruously calm recording announced. _**"This shelter may be ejected as a lifeboat…"**_

The girl known as Cagalli Yula was not panicked, nor even especially concerned about her own life; she knew the shelters were among the toughest structures to be founding the Earth Sphere, more than capable of surviving the firepower currently being thrown around.

To say that she was calm, however, would be inaccurate. Cagalli's thoughts had been in turmoil ever since she saw with her own eyes the proof of Orb's betrayal of its ideals… and since she met the sandy-haired youth in black.

His identity was not in doubt for her. Despite his bizarre failure to recognize her, his actions and apparent knowledge in other areas had left no room for questions. The young man she'd seen fighting in Morgenröte's factory could only be one person.

The only problem being the fact that Cagalli also knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was _dead._ Had been dead for something over a year and a half. Aged beyond what should've been possible for him, he'd nonetheless recognized her back then, had confirmed his identity as surely as he had today.

And for reasons that remained unknown, someone had killed him that day. One shot to the head, and her friend was dead.

Yet now he was here, on Heliopolis, very much alive, possessed of knowledge only he could have, yet failing to recognize her.

_This isn't just about those mobile suits any more,_ Cagalli thought. _That was Kevin… somehow. I have to know what's going on._

Another tremor shook the shelter, and she swallowed. _And that guy that was with him… Kevin can take care of himself, but that guy… I hope he's okay._

Cagalli closed her eyes, unconsciously twisted the ring on her right hand, and prayed for the safety of the friend she'd thought dead, and the youth by his side who'd saved her life.

* * *

Heliopolis, Colony Interior/_Archangel,_ Bridge

* * *

Bursts of fire from an ion cannon flared out again and again, and explosions dotted the landscape of Heliopolis.

If Heliopolis survived this at all, a corner of Kira's mind thought, it was going to need some _serious_ redecorating.

Most of his attention, though, was focused on not getting shot. The GINN he was dueling with was quicker than he'd expected, no longer bound by the centrifugal gravity that had limited the mobility of the one he'd fought earlier. Staying one step ahead of it was proving more difficult than he'd anticipated.

He might've been slightly comforted to know Miguel wasn't much happier. "Damn it," he cursed, as the Strike dodged to one side of another bolt of emerald fury. "He's quick…" Turning his aim point quickly, he fired once more.

Kira took it on his shield, distantly grateful for the device's apparent durability… then swallowed a frightened curse. He'd managed to boost away from the next shot, and the one after, but they both crashed into the colony wall.

He had to end it soon.

Miguel was thinking much the same thing, though for different reasons. "Dammit, enough! Get around the damn thing, Athrun!"

Athrun obeyed, sending the Aegis rushing in. He wasn't sure what he was going to do from here, but simply distracting it… that he could do.

And distract it he did. Kira spotted the red machine, and instantly flashed back to the brief encounter in Morgenröte's hangar. A pilot in red, standing on the Aegis' hatch after their confrontation, with a face that seemed familiar…

"Athrun…?" Kira whispered.

"Is it really you, Kira?" Athrun breathed, watching the Strike hesitate.

The distraction almost cost Kira his life.

Miguel came hurtling in from behind, leveling his ion cannon. With a shout of triumph, he fired again… and blinked. The Strike had twisted at the last instant, interposing its shield, and now it through itself into a circling motion.

That evasive maneuver was just enough to swing Kira out of the way of the next shot, and now he made his move at last.

"Damn it!" Miguel cursed. "Why can't I-?!"

He fired one more shot… at the same moment Kira twitched the Strike sideways, reached up to his left shoulder, and gripped the small hilt protruding from the shoulder piece. Pulling it free, he ignited the short blade, and hurled the weapon toward the GINN.

The whirling blade missed completely, and for a moment Miguel thought he was safe. Only for a moment, though. Only as long as it took to realize the blade was, improbably, _coming back._

It was coming back to the Strike's hand, straight and true, and along the way it carved through the GINN's right leg as if it were made of stale bread.

The limb fell away, leaving a sparking stump, and Miguel with the beginnings of a serious problem. "What the hell?!"

"Aaaaahhhh!"

The _rest_ of the serious problem hurtled forward, impelled by Kira's terror, and swung its huge sword in the moment Miguel was distracted by the loss of his leg. Connecting with the GINN's left shoulder, it clove down and across, tearing through Miguel's waist on its way by and exiting the remains of the GINN's right hip in a spray of vaporized metal and hydraulic fluid.

Miguel Aiman had a bare moment to scream in agony, before the mauled and bisected mobile suit fell apart, halves drifting almost lazily away from one another, turned itself in an expanding fireball and a cloud of debris.

Athrun stared at the fire that had been his friend, horrified. _"Miguel!"_

He couldn't believe it. When the day began, the world had been understandable, as normal as it had ever been since his mother's death. Six hours ago, this had been a normal operation, made slightly more complicated by Heliopolis' political status, but normal in execution.

Athrun had never seen combat before today. Now in the space of six hours, he'd watched most of his team get wiped out, a friend shot in the face, and his mentor sliced in half… by someone he was very much afraid he knew.

Suddenly, the world was a very different place, much like the day his mother died… and Athrun wondered, somewhere beyond the shock and grief, if it would ever be "normal" again.

A series of explosions, a burst of emerald light, and the result of those acts following a moment later gave him his answer.

Olor successfully launched two of his anti-fortification missiles at the _Archangel…_ and Mu La Flaga's computers finally locked in a targeting solution.

Missiles streaked in toward the _Archangel,_ only to be caught at the last moment by CIWS fire; shredded by the depleted uranium shells, exploded prematurely. Transformed from sleek works of lethal art to clouds of flame and shrapnel, they bombarded the _Archangel_ with high-velocity fragments, scoring the beam-resistant hull but failing to achieve the lethal penetration a direct hit would've caused.

Before Olor could make another pass and launch his remaining missiles, Gottfried One spat twin bolts of emerald death, catching him in the middle of a turn; with only time for a strangled cry from its pilot, the GINN melted away, torn apart by energy meant for killing capital ships.

Had it ended there, it would've been great. Matthew let out a howl of rage, fury at the _Archangel_ redoubling, but that would've been a threat they could deal with.

But at that range, at that angle, even the relatively low power of the shots could not stop them from impacting on the axial pillar.

On the _Archangel_'s bridge, it took Mu but a moment to realize what had just happened. "Son a bitch!" he exploded, staring in helpless frustration at his display… a display which showed a line of secondary explosions and arcs of electricity running down the pillar.

Murrue saw it too, through the main viewport, and she whipped her head around to look into CIC. "We can't afford to cause any more damage to the colony!" she snapped. "At this rate, the axial pillar will come apart!"

"Then what you propose we do?" Natarle retorted, exasperation mixed with hope that Murrue _did_ have an idea evident in her voice. "Just sit here and let them destroy us?"

To that, Murrue had no answer. Turning back to face the viewport, she resisted the urge to swallow, fear nearly overwhelming her. Not for herself, but of the likelihood of making the wrong decision, and causing something terrible to happen through action or inaction.

Now Murrue Ramius began to truly appreciate the chains of commanding. When the lives of your crew and the integrity of a colony rested in the hands of your decisions, being in command was heavy weight indeed.

Natarle, realizing Murrue had no better idea of what to do than she did, bent over her console again. "Strike!" she called. "Where are you? We're under attack!"

Kira Yamato was in no real position to respond. As Natarle had somewhat forgotten in the heat of the moment, he was a civilian, not a trained, disciplined soldier, and even as chunks of the central pillar began to fall away, debris missing his machine by bare meters, his attention was focused solely on the Aegis, floating directly in front of him.

And in the Aegis, Athrun Zala's attention was focused on the Strike, ignoring Matthew's calls over the radio. _Is it you, Kira? Are you… the one holding a sword in front of me?_

Face to face with the Aegis, Kira could no longer push aside his recollection of the ZAFT pilot he'd nearly been killed by in Morgenröte. The one whose face had appeared so familiar… the one who resembled the third member of the trio that had once been so close together.

And then his radio came to life.

"Kira? Kira Yamato?" came the call. "So… it _is_ you, isn't it, Kira?"

Kira inhaled sharply, feeling as though the revelation had been a punch to the gut. "Athrun? Athrun Zala?!"

Almost a kilometer away, within the _Archangel_'s hangar, Kevin Walker went inhumanly stiff in Tallgeese's cockpit, face paling.

As though to add further gravity to the moment, _Archangel_'s cannons opened up once more in the background, leaving Matthew suddenly without need to be concerned over Athrun's whereabouts and actions. The molten ball of metal that had moments before been a GINN could leave nothing inside alive, and the dead have few concerns at all.

But his missiles didn't with him. Four bunker-busters, launched by a last, glitchy electrical signal, soared towards the colony's central pillar… and impacted.

It was too much. The pillar had been hit one too many times, in one too many places, and before the horrified eyes of the _Archangel_'s crew and passengers, secondary explosions rippled across its surface, cables snapped like twigs… and the pillar began to fall apart.

Athrun and Kira alone were oblivious, caught up in their own horribly twisted reunion. "What are you doing here, Athrun?!" he demanded. "What's going on here?!"

"You should talk!" Athrun shot back, staring at the Earth Forces machine as if the universe had betrayed him… which, he thought distantly, it had. "What the hell are you doing in that thing?! You're-"

A gust of sudden, intense turbulence interrupted him, and both pilots came back to their surroundings as the environment itself began to break up their meeting.

The central pillar that provided stability for Heliopolis had collapsed; now the centrifugal force that simulated the gravity of Earth quickly tore at the unbalanced colony. The holes created by the Strike's Agni and the GINN's entrance widened, sectors of the ground came apart at the seams, the few buildings that had survived the fighting collapsed in on themselves.

Debris hurtled about, wind streams competing and whirling as the holes grew wider and more numerous; the _Archangel_ rocked about, buffeted by escaping atmosphere. Whether or not they could find and reach a hole large enough to escape through might soon be irrelevant, her crew now realized. At this rate, the colony would simply fly apart around them.

The Strike was not so lucky. Smaller, less durable, and lacking the mass that protected the _Archangel_ from being blown away, it was pulled rapidly toward one of the gaps where an entire sector had once been, prompting a wordless yell of helpless fear from Kira.

Athrun stretched out a hand, as if to physically catch the Strike. "Kira, no!" he cried, reaching out with Aegis' hand; but he, too, was pulled away, dragged back from his friend. A reunion born of fire and pain, it was interrupted by calamity as terrible as the one that had brought it about.

As Aegis flew back, Athrun thought for a moment he heard a voice over the radio, half-familiar yet at the same time strange. _"Kira, Athrun! Keep yourselves alive!"_

Of those of Earth and Space who had come to that place that morning, over half were dead. Two friends brought back together by cruel fate were separated by it; a mission begun in success had devolved into chaos.

The very fabric of a small world in space was coming apart; the survivors fled in tiny minnows, and sought escape in weapons of war. Civilians prayed for safety; soldiers fought for their lives against the uncaring hand of the void.

Heliopolis died.

* * *

Author's note:

* * *

The place where everything begins has exited the stage; its act has finished. The student has lost his home, and his innocence. The soldier's refuge has been destroyed, and glimmers of his past begin to come to light. The knight begins to see the true cost of the path he has chosen.

Heliopolis has died. But the future… has been born…

_**YES!**_ Less than two months since my last update, and another chapter is complete! Had I not been distracted by sudden inspiration for a novel -which will hopefully get underway itself within the next few weeks- it might've been even sooner. But I am satisfied! Fastest update in over two years!

Well. In case it's not clear, yes, this chapter is supposed to cause a certain degree of confusion; it wouldn't be one of my stories if it didn't leave readers scratching their heads from to time, after all. Fear not; all will be explained in time… though canny readers of my other works will probably catch at least one of the hints.

So. Chapter III is done; here's to the chance of Chapter IV being just as fast, if not faster. Till next time, comrades. -Solid


	4. Chapter IV: Standing to Defend You

I don't own anything except Kevin Walker

Leona Colde is the creation of arekuruu-inabikari-no-She

* * *

Unknown Location, January 25th, C.E. 71

* * *

After a quick extraction from the neighborhood with a stolen car, which would eventually find its way to the bottom of the ocean, the female agent went back to her hotel, which functioned as her safe house and base of operations, to see whether her handlers had left her any new messages at the hotel's front desk. Finding none, she returned to her penthouse suite and took a long, hot shower in the bath.

She stood silent under the hot spray of water, unmindful of any lingering pain from the heat, and after leaving the shower she wiped away the accumulated moisture on the lavish mirror above the nearby sink and gazed at her sad, smiling face with lifeless jade eyes.

When she emerged from the bathroom, she picked up her cell and made a secured phone call to an unlisted number. After several rings, the other end picked up and she made her report. "Targets have been eliminated as ordered."

"Were there any problems in their removal?" the voice-altered receiver asked

Still faintly steaming from her hot shower, she sat down on the bed with a thick towel wrapped around her body and poured herself a glass of red wine. "None whatsoever, shall I eliminate the primary target as well?"

"That will not be necessary at this point in time, we will assign another cell to finish job if it comes down to it."

"Understood," came the ever monotonous reply from the agent, but before she could end her debriefing, the altered voice on the other end spoke again.

"One of our sleeper agents in Heliopolis sent something interesting data to us before we lost communications with him, and from his reports it seems that _Hydra_ has been found."

The agent was silent, slowly processing this new piece of information, an unwanted surprise in her own opinion, but before she could ask the one and only question in her mind pertaining to _him_, the altered voice on the other end spoke again.

"No, until we get further confirmation from our sources, you will return to the colony and wait for further orders there."

"…"

"Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"We've compiled several new identities for you and sent them to your laptop. One of these shall be your new identity until further notice."

The conversation ended, the young woman let herself fall back onto the bed for a moment to gaze at the elaborate patterns of the ceiling panels, thinking about the disconcerting information revealed to her.

Abruptly, she sat up and booted up her laptop, going over the files of her 'new' false identities. She had been Kei Nagase for half a year now, a long time in her job occupation. Before that she was Erza Scarlet, before that Tear Grant, and so on and so forth. Now was the time for another new name.

"Robin, Ada, Ursula, Elisa, Rain, Kanon, Leona…"

She paused and poured herself another glass of red wine. "…Leona."

The name struck a chord within her own embittered spirit. So she made her choice and got up from her mattress, heading out to her balcony which afforded her a magnificent view of the city's nightlife.

The view would usually give her a brief sense of relaxation after a mission, though; with the news of _his_ reappearance all her thoughts were bent to this one man.

Kevin Walker.

* * *

_Marie Curie,_ Bridge

* * *

Heliopolis died.

In the final analysis, it really did come down to such simple words. The commander on _Marie Curie_'s bridge, one eye socket hidden by a patch, reflected distantly that language was, really, a cruel thing… completely inadequate to describe such a moment.

A survivor of the Bloody Valentine Tragedy, the one-eyed commander looked at Heliopolis' death, and felt something twist inside him. Another colony, come apart so easily, right before his eye…

"Talk to me, Lance," someone rasped in his voice. "What happened here?"

Lance, hurriedly examining the latest data from their recon drone, swallowed. "Hard to say, Boss," he said quietly. "There was so much going on in there…"

"A rough estimate," the one Lance called "Boss" snapped. "Did we do this?"

Lance winced at the bite in the Boss' tone, and frowned down at the table display. According to the drone's cameras, at least five mobile suits had been involved, taking both sides into account, plus the new warship; the sheer amount of firepower being flung around was… impressive.

After several moments of intense scrutiny of the imagery, Lance straightened, and turned back to the Boss. "Commander," he said formally, "the exact details will require more in-depth analysis, but it would appear the collapse was precipitated by a combination of the Earth Forces' warship's cannons, and D-package weaponry from the Le Creuset team's GINNs."

The commander's hands clenched into fists. "Le Creuset," he whispered harshly. "D-package weaponry, inside a colony? However badly Orb may have violated their neutrality, such measures were not justifiable."

"He'll have some difficulty justifying this to the Council," Lance interjected carefully. "Chairman Clyne won't sit still for this."

"Rau is smarter than that," the Boss countered, shaking his head. "And it's a week from here to the Homeland; he'll have plenty of time to polish his cover story by then. Clyne may not buy it, but there'll be enough doubt that he can't move against Rau. Nor," he admitted grimly, "can the Initiative. It's too soon, and this is not worth breaking cover for. Damn it."

"So," a new voice mused, from the bridge hatch, "even in ZAFT, there are those who fail to live up to the noble standards of your ideology, hm?"

The Boss turned, eye narrow, to look at the new arrival. A tall, broad-shouldered man who had the look of someone once muscular, but had since fallen out of the habits needed to maintain that body. His hair was a leonine mane of graying blonde, a vivid scar marred the left side of his face, and he wore a slightly tattered silver uniform.

Even the reserved commander had to force his face not to display any scorn. "Watch your tongue, Null," he advised coldly. "Any other man would've shot you on sight, old lion. I still might."

Null shrugged, unconcerned. "As you wish. But you can't deny my point, can you? Otherwise your 'Initiative' would never have come into existence at all."

"Hmph." The Boss looked back at Lance, deliberately ignoring Null. "Captain Cooper. The fallout from Heliopolis' destruction is immaterial to us at this time. The new warship will almost certainly have survived it, and her mobile suits likewise."

"Agreed, Boss." The big captain tilted his head. "Priority?"

"Follow her," the Boss said simply. "The Le Creuset team is in a better position than we are to deduce their course, so we'll follow them; when they move, so do we. Rig for stealth, and have the hangar ensure my Ghost is ready for launch on short notice. I intend to give away as little as possible, and learn as much as possible; this may be a turning point."

Lance nodded. "Understood, Commander. Helm," he went on, pulling himself to his seat in the bridge's center, "get those engines hot. The game is afoot."

The helmsman nodded… and toward the aft, the old man called Null smiled sadly to himself. "Ah," he murmured, "but which game? And who is the hound, and who the fox…?"

* * *

_Archangel,_ Bridge

* * *

Murrue Ramius slowly came to her feet, staring with wide, shocked eyes at the scene beyond the viewports. What had, hours before, been a vibrant, almost idyllic home in space… was now just so much rubble, drifting aimlessly about them.

Unlike the Strike, _Archangel_ had not exited the colony before the collapse; rather, the colony had simply fallen apart around her, nearly taking the ship with it in its death throes.

She had no words to describe the sight. She'd seen a handful of skirmishes in space before, participated in the Battle of Jachin Due, but this… this kind of carnage was totally outside her experience. It was not, however, outside Mu La Flaga's, and, emerging from CIC, he simply uttered, "Son of a bitch."

"…I don't think that quite covers this, Lieutenant," Murrue managed. "I've never seen anything like this."

"I have," Mu said grimly. "Twice. Endymion, when they set off the Cyclops, and before that, the AI weapons test at Bowman Station." He nodded at the floating debris around them. "On the bright side, this time people were _prepared_ for something catastrophic before it happened. Most of the population, at least, got out in the lifeboats before the collapse."

"Most," Natarle Badgiruel murmured darkly, still in CIC. "Better than three years ago… But," she added, raising her voice, "I'm afraid that really isn't our concern at the moment."

Murrue turned to her, grateful for the distraction. "You're right," she agreed after a moment. "Our own survival comes first right now." She frowned. "So where's the Strike? Is Kira all right?"

"I don't know," the ensign replied. "That's what I'm about to find out." Turning her attention back to her console, Natarle pressed one hand to the headset she wore. "Strike, this is the _Archangel; _do you read me? Kira Yamato, if you can hear me, please respond…"

* * *

Space, Heliopolis Debris Field

* * *

GAT-X105 Strike hung in space, drifting slowly along, coasting on momentum alone; its pilot had not yet attempted to regain control of it, leaving it to the vagaries of space.

Within, Kira Yamato swallowed hard, taking a deep, shuddering breath. Minutes after his first kill, his shocking encounter with a ghost of the past, and being sucked out of the collapsing colony, he was finally beginning to regain control, of his craft… and himself.

"How could this… happen…?" he whispered, horrified. "The entire colony… just… it just…"

Heliopolis' death was something completely outside Kira's experience. Oh, he'd seen the news reports covering the war between Earth and the PLANTs, watched footage of Junius Seven's death in nuclear fire… but that was something seen at a remove, from a detached perspective. Actually living through the collapse of an entire space colony, watching it happen all around him…

Kira shuddered. _How many people just died here? How many were liked us, trapped outside of shelters? Mom, Dad… you're okay, right?_

Remembering the sheer amount of property damage just from his first clash with a GINN, let alone the ion blasts the second one was firing, he wasn't nearly as sure of that as he would've liked. Even before the colony's collapse, so much damage had been incurred.

He shuddered again. Now he had a better understanding of what Kevin was accustomed to dealing with, and he very much wished he didn't. Kira lacked his friend's conditioned detachment from such carnage, and hoped never to have to. Just seeing something like that once was too much.

And what he'd seen on top of all that… Kira closed his eyes, remembering the voice he'd heard over the radio. Three years it had been, but there was no mistaking that voice, and it confirmed the impossible sight he'd seen back in the ill-fated Morgenröte hangar, amidst the fires and smoke. The ZAFT soldier who'd nearly killed him with a knife…

Was Athrun Zala.

"_The PLANTs and Earth _will _see eye to eye,"_ he heard from the distance of memory. _"There will be no war."_ His friend had smiled then. _"You'll be coming to the PLANTs too, right, Kira?"_

Kira had known, even then, that there was more to those words than a desire to keep their friendship strong. The third member of their trio had disappeared the previous year; Athrun didn't want that happening to the two of them, as well.

And it hadn't. No, neither of them had "disappeared", exactly; they'd gone their separate ways, one to his homeland, the other to neutral territory. To where the two of them should've been safe, been free to sit things out and meet again once peace was restored.

Instead, they met again all too soon, in the worst way imaginable. On opposite sides of a dividing line.

Of all the ways they could've met again, Kira had never, in his worst nightmares, suspected it would involve gunfire.

Chiming from his comm system distracted Kira from the dark thoughts. _"Strike, this is the _Archangel;_ do you read me? Kira Yamato, if you can hear me, please respond. Repeat, this is the _Archangel…"

Kira quickly keyed his transmitter. "Strike here," he said, voice coming out a little rough. "I read you, Ensign."

Natarle's sigh of relief was audible over the radio. _"I'm glad to hear it, Strike. What's your status? Can you move?"_

He gave his displays a quick scan, and nodded sharply to himself. "All green, Ma'am," Kira reported. "No damage; I can make it. I'm low on power, though." Unsurprising, considering the mess he'd just come through.

"_Not a problem,"_ Natarle told him. _"You're close; just follow the beacon. _Archangel,_ clear."_

The transmission cut off, and Kira slumped back in his seat. _All right… it's just about over,_ he thought, relieved beyond words. _I shouldn't have to do that again, at least…_

Gripping the controls once more, Kira eased the Strike into motion, canceling its aimless drift, and began to orient it toward _Archangel_'s beacon. The sooner he got back aboard, the sooner he could get out of this damned cockpit and leave the fighting to the professionals.

Before he'd covered even a fraction of the distance to the ship, though, a blip on his detection systems caught his eye. Almost completely hidden from radar by the debris field, it showed up as a bright spot indeed on infrared… too bright to be random wreckage.

"Is that…?" Kira zoomed in his display, and blinked. A long, cylindrical object, drifting much as he had… "That's a lifeboat. And it's damaged…"

* * *

_Archangel,_ Bridge

* * *

"The Strike is returning," Natarle reported, coming up out of CIC. "It's still in one piece."

"Good," Murrue said, with palpable relief. "That's one less thing to worry about, at least. We're going to need it… and him, probably."

The ensign grimaced, still unhappy with having a civilian at the controls of a state-of-the-art prototype, but didn't bother trying to dispute the point any further. The decision had clearly been made, and even she had to admit young Kira had at least proven his worth as a pilot.

"Well," Mu mused, "that's done. But what's our next move? We may be intact, along with the Strike, but Heliopolis is gone… and Le Creuset is still out there."

Murrue nodded. "I know," she grimly. "We've bought a little time, but we're still in a combat situation, and cut off from support. We need to get out of this area and into Alliance territory as soon as possible."

He shook his head. "That's not going to be easy," he said quietly. "Right now, we've got exactly two battle-ready mobile weapons, the Strike and my Zero. Le Creuset has his CGUE, at least one surviving GINN, and a demonstrated willingness to deploy our own prototypes against us. Those are not good odds, Captain."

She had to agree with him on that point. Had the Le Creuset team possessed a full complement of GINNs and nothing more, it might've been different; it was entirely possible the Strike could've handled a situation like that all by itself, and almost certainly could with the aid of Mu's Möbius Zero. It wouldn't have been easy, but the Strike's PSA and firepower combined with the Zero's wired gunbarrels could've pulled it off.

With no fewer than _four_ of the G-weapons in enemy hands, however, all with essentially the same capabilities as the Strike…

"We do have Tallgeese, as well," Natarle offered. Ignoring Mu's look of mild disgust, she continued, "I know the Lieutenant has concerns about the pilot, but leaving that aside, it _does_ have great potential. Ten years ago, the only stumbling block preventing it from being an effective unit on an individual basis was the difficulty in finding a pilot capable of handling its acceleration. We _do_ have one."

"It only has one weapon capable of harming phase-shift," Murrue pointed out. "And I thought there were issues with its operating system."

Natarle waved a hand. "Considering what Yamato did with the Strike, I don't think it would take him long to update Tallgeese's OS enough to be usable. As for armament, it would still be potentially useful against the stolen G-weapons, and Mister Murdoch and Kevin are going to look into modifying it to mount some of the Strike's spare weaponry."

"Could work," Mu conceded after a moment's thought. "Probably only as a distraction at first -I don't care how high that guy's G-tolerance is, there's no way he's taming _that_ wild horse this fast- but still…"

"We've also got that unmanned unit," Arnold Neumann interjected, turning in his seat at the helm. "I know we still haven't worked out the OS bugs yet, but maybe…"

Mu looked at him sharply. "Unmanned weapon? You don't mean…"

Natarle nodded. "Yes, Lieutenant. We were assigned one of the Ghosts that survived the Bowman Station test, in hopes that Morgenröte might be able to correct the errors in its AI."

The Hawk of Endymion gave a vigorous headshake. "Errors, hell! Those damn things went homicidal on us! Captain, I'd be against deploying that thing at all, let alone without lobotomizing the AI first." There was a haunted look in his eyes, now. "Like I said, I was there for the test last year. That wasn't an error in the IFF systems, Captain, that was a deliberate revolt by the Bowman Station AIs, and they damn near killed everyone involved."

Mu's vehemence surprised Murrue, but after a moment's reflection she realized it probably shouldn't have. The X-9 Ghost unmanned mobile armors had been intended as a counter to ZAFT's mobile suits, a program competing with the G-weapon project and advocated by Earth Alliance hardliners who were against using "Coordinator-based technology" to even the odds. And, to be fair, the Ghosts' capabilities had proved to be quite spectacular, exceeding expectations.

Unfortunately, they demonstrated those capabilities in an attempt at wiping out every manned unit at Bowman Station, and very nearly succeeded.

Exactly what went wrong, no one was sure. What _was_ clear was that the artificial intelligences operating the Ghosts went rogue the moment full autonomous control was granted, and promptly began shooting up Bowman Station, center of the project. Proving to be horrifically effective, they'd wiped out over a dozen warships and three mobile armor squadrons, before being engaged by the Möbius Zero unit.

Mu La Flaga and his comrades succeeded in blasting most of the Ghosts to pieces, in a running dogfight lasting several hours… at which point the survivors set about destroying Bowman Station itself, apparently out of spite. Possessing complete schematics of the station, the AI weapons blew the spacebase to rubble, taking a thousand people with it.

Two Ghosts had bee recovered reasonably intact. One had later been captured by ZAFT when the transport carrying it came under attack, and was eventually spotted fighting for the PLANTs, having been modified for use by a human pilot. The other was currently on _Archangel_'s hangar deck, carefully locked down. The project as a whole had been dropped, and if Murrue recalled correctly two of the admirals behind it had been court-martialed, with long prison terms.

"Right then," Murrue said presently. Tapping thoughtfully at her armrest, she looked out at the depths beyond the forward viewport. "A damaged Zero, the Strike, and an unreliable antique… plus low supplies. That's not going to make this easy."

"No," Mu agreed. "I don't think that's enough to get us to Ptolemaeus, Captain. Even leaving aside the Le Creuset team, we don't have the food and water; we're at L3, directly _opposite_ the Moon. We'll starve a week before we get anywhere near."

The Captain nodded glumly. Performing the near-impossible and getting past the Le Creuset team's stolen G-weapons would be meaningless if they couldn't keep fed afterwards. _And it would be humiliating to go so far and die so pathetically…_

Standing to her left, one ear still listening to the Strike's progress reports, Natarle had acquired a frown. "…There is one possibility," she said at length. "We're not too far from Artemis."

"The base with the Umbrella Shield?" Mu pursed his lips. "Could work. It's well within range, and it's certainly defensible. Never did understand why they built the Umbrella at a backwater base like that, but it'd certainly help _us."_ He quirked an eyebrow. "You don't sound very happy with the idea, though, Ensign. Something we should know?"

She shrugged uneasily. "Not really, Lieutenant. Not about Artemis specifically, anyway. It's just…" Natarle sighed. "Artemis is a Eurasian base, and I met some of the Eurasian detachment to South America three years ago. It was…" She shrugged again, uncomfortable with going into detail.

Mu gave her a knowing nod. "I can imagine, Lieutenant; I've dealt with Eurasians myself. But from everything I've heard, Heaven's War made a lot of Atlantic Federation troops crazy, too, and most of the rest can probably be put down to rivalry. Our nations aren't exactly on the best of terms."

That, the trio of officers knew, was something of an understatement. Were it not for the PLANT threat, it was entirely possible the two Federations would be at war with one another… again.

"All of that is immaterial beside our current problems," Murrue put in, gesturing at the map display now on the display mounted on the forward deckhead. "The fact of the matter is that we have insufficient supplies to reach Atlantic Federation HQ, and insufficient combat power to fight off a determined attack. Unfortunately, we're also a top-secret prototype, bearing only internal Atlantic Federation codes. We don't have recognition codes that Artemis will accept."

"Do we have a choice but to try?" Mu asked, glancing significantly at the map.

She was silent for a long moment. "No. I believe you're right, Lieutenant: we'll have to make for Artemis." Murrue paused. "Carefully."

* * *

_Archangel,_ Hangar

* * *

Within Tallgeese's cockpit, Kevin Walker slumped against the seatback, suddenly too weary to even pull free the cable jacked into the back of his neck. "Son of a bitch," he whispered, replaying the radio exchange in his mind. "Athrun… what the _hell_ are you doing here…?"

Kevin was prepared for the possibility of fighting old friends. The past that had brought him to this point left him no choice but to face that possibility; that which had made him what he was had ended in a way that almost made it inevitable.

But Athrun Zala… Three years… no, four years ago now, he thought, Athrun had been just a child, Coordinator though he was. A child who hated the thought of fighting, the "peacemaker" of Copernicus'

"Terrible Trio". The one who made Kira study and made Kevin back off when things heated up.

The sandy-haired soldier had been prepared to fight former comrades-in-arms. It had never entered his head that he might be faced with a childhood friend who had once been so innocent. The thought of what could change someone so peaceful into someone willing to participate in an operation such as the G-weapon theft…

It made Kevin shudder. He himself had been changed, terribly, but he'd possessed something resembling a combative mindset from the start. Athrun had once been even less receptive to the use of force than Kira.

_He was also one hell of a smart kid,_ Kevin remembered. _Brains, reflexes, coordination… Crud. Him behind the controls of a G-weapon is a damn _scary_ thought._

And he had very little idea what might be done about it. Kevin was not only not exactly a mobile suit pilot by training, but also completely out of his depth in dealing with an opponent he did _not_ want to kill. He was trained to seek and destroy; fighting those instincts would be as challenging as the combat itself.

Fortunately, perhaps, for Kevin's peace of mind, he suddenly had something else to think about. Still linked into the ship's comlinks via the cable plugged into one of the sockets at the back of his neck, he missed Kira's first transmission, but was immediately jolted out of his apathy by Natarle Badgiruel's heated response.

"_You're doing _what?_ Who gave you authorization?"_

"_Authorization for what?"_ Murrue could be heard asking in the background.

"_The Strike has arrived, Ma'am, but he's brought a Heliopolis lifeboat with him! Kira Yamato, what is the meaning of this? You can't bring that here!"_

"_What was I _supposed_ to do?" _Kira fired back angrily. _"Its propulsion systems and life support are _both_ damaged; if I'd just _left_ it out there, they wouldn't have made it!"_

"_That is not our responsibility!"_ Natarle snapped. _"This ship is highly classified, and a _warship_ at that! You can't just bring a lifeboat full of civilians aboard. That's unacceptable!"_

"It's humane, Natarle," Kevin interjected, keying in a command to patch telemetry from the lifeboat into his displays. "You're suggesting we just let them die? As bad as our supply situation may be, they've got it ten times worse. And besides, I seem to remember another time when someone did something that was 'not his responsibility'. Am I wrong?"

"_Our meeting in Outer Heaven was _not_ the same thing,"_ she retorted; but Kevin could almost see the flinch. _"The situation we're in now-"_

"_Enough, Ensign,"_ Murrue broke in, sounding very tired. _"Kira, go ahead and bring it in, just do it quickly."_

"_Captain!"_ Natarle protested.

"_We don't have time for this,"_ the Captain said sharply. _"Those two are right about the 'right' course of action, but I honestly don't even care about that just now. We need to get moving, and we do _not_ have time to argue among ourselves. Just get the Strike and that lifeboat onboard, and rig for silent running."_

There was a palpable, almost fulminating pause. _"Understood, Ma'am."_

Natarle's concession sounded to Kevin like the words of someone recognizing the futility of further argument without conceding one iota of their position. _Funny,_ he thought to himself, finally disconnecting the network jack. _I thought Natarle was more reasonable than that…_

_

* * *

_

Closing down the Strike's systems at last, Kira heaved a relieved sigh. It was done; he'd gotten back to the _Archangel_ in one piece, brought some otherwise helpless survivors with him, and finished what he'd set out to do.

_Now I can leave the fighting to the professionals,_ he thought wearily. _If they still need help, they've got Kevin here…_ He felt guilty at the thought, but the fact was that, however much he hated what his friend had been forced to become, there was no denying that Kevin's present persona was considerably more comfortable with the thought of combat.

And, Kira mused as he released his restraints and reached for the hatch controls, almost enthusiastic about it. It disturbed him, but the simple fact was that Kevin _enjoyed_ a good fight, if not necessarily the inevitable consequences of a battle with these stakes.

That, however, was a matter for another time. Popping the hatch, Kira was faced with the much cheerier sight of civilians debarking from the damaged lifeboat, entering the safer environment of the ship itself. Wondering idly what the _Archangel_ crew would do with the lifeboat afterward -probably simply eject it into space, he figured- he pushed off from the Strike… and blinked when the mechanical bird on his shoulder abruptly took off on its own.

"Birdy!" it trilled, taking wing for the lifeboat.

"Birdy!" Kira echoed. "Hey! Where are you going?" He wasn't used to his little pet acting on its own in such a manner; wondering what on earth could've gotten the attention of its simple-minded AI, Kira altered his own trajectory in pursuit. "Get back here! You'll just be in the way!"

Drifting across the open space between the deactivated mobile suit and the inert cylinder on the deck, Kira glanced curiously at the passengers, wondering if somehow one of them could've been responsible for Birdy's bizarre behavior. _I don't see how, but I can't think of anything else that makes any sense… Wait, is that…?_

One of the civilians caught sight of Birdy, then of the youth chasing it, and quickly pushed away from the lifeboat's hatch. "Hey! I know you!" the red-haired girl exclaimed, floating swiftly toward Kira. "You're one of Sai's friends, right?"

Kira caught her by the shoulders before she could go careening on past, and stared at her in surprise. "Flay? Flay Allster?"

Flay nodded. "That's right! And you're… Kira Yamato, wasn't it? …Where are we?" She glanced about, taking in the hangar's contents for the first time, and her eyes widened. "Wait a minute-"

"You're safe," Kira assured her quickly. "This is an Earth Forces ship, not ZAFT."

"You're lying!" she accused, pointing at the Strike. "There are mobile suits here!"

He shook his head. "That's an Earth Forces prototype. And see that one? It's the Tallgeese; you've heard of it, right?"

Flay bit her lip. "And how do I know ZAFT didn't steal it?"

"Because they wouldn't bother, that's why," Kevin said dryly, arcing over to them from Tallgeese's hatch. "Everybody has the specs, and the only advantages it has over modern units are impractical. There'd be no point."

She turned to him. "Um… You're another of Sai's friends, right? …Walker, I think…?" Flay frowned. "I see what you mean… but then what's it doing _here,_ if it's useless?"

"Desperation," he replied. "And there's someone on the ship who actually _can_ use it." Kevin glanced at Kira. "You wanna take her to see Sai and the others, maybe? I'm going to check in with Natarle, so…"

Flay latched onto that suggestion at once. "Sai's here?" she said.

Kira smiled, ignoring the odd pang he felt at her enthusiasm. "Yeah, him and Miriallia and a couple of the others. Come on."

* * *

_Archangel,_ Bridge

* * *

"Reaching Artemis isn't going to be easy," Mu mused, once the drama over the Heliopolis lifeboat had passed. "This is the Le Creuset team we're up against, and he's one tough customer. Smart, sneaky, and very dangerous personally."

Murrue nodded soberly, absently tapping her armrest. "So I noticed," she said, gesturing at her own place in the bridge's center seat.

She didn't need to elaborate. Already, their foes had succeeded in infiltrating Heliopolis, setting charges around the _Archangel_ herself, and smuggling in _mobile suits_ before being noticed. They'd blown up most of the ship's crew, stolen four of the new G-weapons, and only failed to destroy the ship because they underestimated her armor.

They'd deprived the ship of most of her crew, almost her entire mobile weapon compliment, and left a mere lieutenant in command, in very short order. "Sneaky" was probably an understatement.

"I suppose we could try to outrun them," Mu said thoughtfully. "I understand the _Archangel_ is a fast ship… or so I've been told, at least," he said, lifting an eyebrow.

"Faster than anything else in our fleet," Murrue acknowledged. "But a _Nazca_ is a fast ship as well. The best we could hope to do is leave the _Laurasia_ behind us, and she'd catch up quickly enough once the _Nazca_ forced us into evasive maneuvers."

The lieutenant nodded in glum understanding. ZAFT hadn't offset their numerical disadvantage by Coordinator superiority alone; with the sole exception of beam weaponry, their technology had also maintained a consistent edge, up until the G-weapon project began to bear fruit.

"Sounds like silent running is about our only option," Natarle interjected, coming up out of CIC. She still looked disgruntled from the earlier argument, but like a professional she wasn't letting it interfere with her other duties. "Go EMCON, accelerate for a short time, and go ballistic the rest of the way."

"Not good enough," Mu said, shaking his head. "They're watching the debris field closely, I'm sure. The first signature that starts moving under its own power will get their attention right away…" He trailed off, a proverbial light bulb blinking on in his head. "Wait a second…"

"Lieutenant…?" Murrue began carefully, watching his arrested expression warily.

The pilot slowly smiled. "That's it… The _first_ signature will get their attention." His eyes came back into focus, and he turned his gaze -and the full power of his smile- on the younger officer. "Captain, I've been called a man who can make the impossible possible. Want me to prove it?"

* * *

_Vesalius,_ Bridge

* * *

Fredrik Ades gazed out at the debris beyond the forward viewport, where once had been an Island-3 space colony, and shook his head. "This is going to be hard to explain to the Supreme Council, Commander," he murmured, turning his attention back to the man standing on the other side of the map table. "What do we tell them? Launching the raid to capture the Earth Forces prototypes on our own initiative was one thing, but this…"

He didn't need to elaborate. The wreckage that once been a haven against the harshness of space spoke for itself.

"If you're referring to the destruction of Heliopolis," Rau Le Creuset replied softly, "I agree it's going to be… difficult. Particularly as I suspect another party was a witness, one who will doubtless draw his own conclusions and make his report accordingly. But make no mistake about one thing, Captain: for all that this is tragic, that was no 'neutral' colony that was lost."

"Morgenröte's aid in developing the G-weapons is certainly a clear breach of Orb's neutrality," Ades conceded reluctantly. "Even so, the response will doubtless be seen as… extreme, by some quarters. They'll question if five mobile suits and a new warship were worth _this."_

"Considering the degree of superiority they have over our current models, I would say extreme measures were entirely justified," Le Creuset said, staring pensively at the orbital map. "Indeed, had they succeeded in deploying more than one of the G-weapons, _more_ extreme measures would've been necessary. As it was…" He shrugged. "What happened was a regrettable accident, Ades, and arguably as much the Earth Forces' fault as our own, if not more so; they deployed even heavier weaponry than we did."

Ades grunted unhappily; and against the aft bulkhead, Le Creuset's armored agent stirred. Invictus had his own opinions regarding the events leading up to the current situation, but decided it was better to keep his own council. This kind of warfare was not his area of expertise, and political matters were… perhaps not beyond his capability, considering, but certainly beyond his inclination.

_This other matter, on the other hand…_ Invictus considered not mentioning his deductions, what with the particular nature of them. In fact, under other circumstances he would almost certainly have remained silent. But with the current situation…

"If I may, Commander," he said quietly, "there's additional evidence of Orb's… lack of neutrality in this instance."

The two officers turned to him. "You mean Tallgeese?" Le Creuset asked. "I considered that myself, but bearing in mind its obsolescence, my assumption is that some Earth Forces soldier simply chose it for an escape vehicle. Until there's actual evidence of Orb collusion in using it an offensive role…"

"No Earth Forces soldier could do it," Invictus countered, with a certainty Ades found puzzling. "Access to Tallgeese itself was kept restricted; only specific individuals could bring it online."

"Sahaku, perhaps?" Ades offered. "They were likely the instigators of the joint project here."

"No." The assassin's expression was inscrutable behind his helmet, but his unease was clear. "Commander, we discussed the possibility of a certain individual being present. I believe this to be his work."

Le Creuset looked at him sharply. "He had access?"

"…Yes."

Ades glanced between the commander the obviously uncomfortable Invictus. "…Is there something I should know, Sir?"

"Later, Ades," the masked commander told him, turning back to the map table. "I'll explain when we have the time; suffice to say Invictus has raised an interesting point… For the moment, let's leave the political implications aside; we can worry about that once the immediate tactical situation is dealt with. Our priority now is finding and destroying the Legged Ship."

"Of course, Sir." Ades didn't really like the answer, but Le Creuset was right about priorities. "In that case, Sir… I'd think they'd be heading straight for Ptolemaeus Base, on the Moon. That seems the most logical course of action."

"Hm…" Le Creuset stared thoughtfully at the map. "Logical, yes… too logical. Too obvious, Ades. Admittedly, I've a feeling their command structure took a severe hit from our attempt to destroy the ship in dock, so this may be the act of an inexperienced commander. Still…"

There was silence for a few moments, and Invictus withdrew back into his own thoughts. _Ptolemaeus,_ he mused. _If that's the case… at some point during the chase, Kevin will be abandoning that ship. He won't go anywhere near Earth Alliance HQ, I'm sure; and Kira will doubtless leave, too. With those two gone…_

The armored agent frowned behind his helmet. His position as Le Creuset's agent had been one mostly free of complications; Invictus, certainly, had no qualms about fighting the Earth Forces, so considering his origins, it was as good a way as any to make his way through the world. Heliopolis had introduced at least three unexpected complications.

The prospect of them no longer being in effect appealed to him mightily… hence his concern at Le Creuset's apparent doubts.

"Captain?" The voice of the sensor operator, toward the bridge's bow, interrupted the contemplation around the map table. "We've got a heat signature departing the debris field. Its thermo pattern matches what we have of the Legged Ship."

"Course?" Ades said sharply.

"Consistent with an orbit leading to the Moon, Sir."

Nodding, Ades turned back to Le Creuset, only to see the masked man shaking his head. "No. That's a decoy, I'm more sure now than ever; even if they chose the obvious course, they wouldn't make for it in such an obvious manner. They have to know we're still out here."

"Then where _are_ they going?" Ades asked, an edge of exasperation creeping into his voice despite his best efforts.

Le Creuset tapped a point on the orbital map. "Right here, Ades. Artemis Base, the local Eurasian outpost. Close by -a boon both for strategic and supply reasons, if they're as strapped as I suspect- and well defended, what with the Umbrella Shield. An ideal place for them to make for, prior to moving on toward Lunar Headquarters."

"…That does make a certain amount of sense," Ades conceded. "But," he warned, "if you're wrong, Sir, we'll lose them completely."

The commander shrugged. "If I'm wrong, we miss one ship and two or three mobile weapons; an inconvenience, no more. If I'm right…"

"If you're right, we have only one GINN to send after them," Ades pointed out, bringing up the next problem. "And with all due respect, Sir, we already know their single G-weapon can take GINNs."

"True. However…" Le Creuset smiled thinly. "_We_ have four G-weapons ourselves. Even if they succeed in repairing the Möbius Zero and deploying Tallgeese, we still have the superior force." He saw the look on Ades' face, and his smile widened. "Oh, don't worry, Ades. We've already retrieved the data from them; in the end, that's far more important than the machines themselves. Right now, their primary value to us is in a proactive role."

"Understood, Sir." The captain wasn't happy about it, but he knew when the discussion was over. "Your orders, then?"

"Get us underway, on course for an Artemis-based interception." Le Creuset paused. "And send word to the _Gamow_: I have something in particular in mind for them…"

* * *

_Archangel,_ Enlisted Quarters

* * *

With the ship underway once more, slipping stealthily away from the remains of Heliopolis, there was much for the crew to do… yet almost nothing to occupy the minds of the civilians caught up in _Archangel_'s plight, nothing to distract them from their unaccustomed peril. The orderly, peaceful world they'd lived in just a few hours before was gone. A war had taken its place.

Most of the civilians from the lifeboat had been allocated to other areas, filling the crew spaces left empty by the deaths of so many meant for the ship. The single doctor among them had consented to take the place of _Archangel_'s deceased surgeon, however, and Flay Allster had joined the small group she was at least slightly acquainted with.

A group that knew more about what was going on than the newer arrivals, but wished they did not. Ignorance, as the saying went, truly was bliss.

"I wonder where we're going to go from here," Kuzzey lamented, staring at the deck. "You'd think they'd be nice enough to at least tell us that much… not like we're a security risk or anything."

"Yeah," Tolle agreed. "We're kinda stuck here right now." He was perched on one of the upper bunks, making a perhaps vain effort to relax after the tension of Heliopolis' destruction.

Sitting on one of the lower bunks, Flay looked very troubled. "Just what _is_ going on here, anyway? Why was Heliopolis attacked? Does it have anything to do with those mobile suits I saw when I came aboard?"

Sai, leaning against a bulkhead, absently wiped his glasses with a cloth. "That's about the size of it," he said. "Somebody in Morgenröte apparently cut a deal with the Earth Forces to help them build mobile suits to counter ZAFT's, and this ship with them. I don't know who, or what they expected to get out of it, but…" He shrugged. "Somehow or other, ZAFT found out about them, and after that it was probably only a matter of time before something happened."

Flay clasped her hands together, anxious. "But… that's a violation of Orb's neutrality, right? I mean, you guys are all from there; you should know that better than anybody! Why would your people _do_ something like that?"

No one answered, and Kira, resting against the far bulkhead, frowned pensively. Flay had hit the nail on the head, zeroed in on the question that mattered most. The one which bothered all of them: who had taken such chances, and why? It had cost the six of them their home, others their lives, and forced Kira and Kevin into a very uncomfortable situation… however little anyone else knew of it.

Which reminded Kira: as soon as there was time and seclusion, he needed to talk to Kevin privately, about that and… other things.

"…Sahaku," Kevin himself said at length, sprawled across the bunk across from Tolle. He had the case he'd retrieved from the Yamato residence in his lap, and was studying the contents intently. "It had to be one of the Five Noble Families, and they're the only logical choice."

Tolle glanced at him curiously. "Oh, yeah? How so?"

The sandy-haired youth unfastened the belts holding his holsters, and tucked them into the case. _No more use for those toys,_ he mused. _They're adequate for calmer times… but if I'm going to be flying through a war, it's time to take up my old gear…_

"Simple enough," he said aloud, snapping the case shut. "Seiran has virtually no connection to Morgenröte, and in any case seems to be waiting to see where the wind is blowing before trying anything rash. Athha, of course, is the _originator_ of the neutrality policy, and mostly isolationist to boot. Onishi might've tried it -they were behind the Tallgeese program ten years ago- but they're basically dead; the patriarch is gone, both heirs are missing. I think there's an uncle holding things together, but nobody even pretends he actually does more than manage the finances."

"Yuroba might be dumb enough to do it," Kira noted, picking up the thread, "but they're not bright enough to see any advantage in it, either. Sahaku, though… they're both ambitious and smart. They might find it an acceptable risk, for whatever reason."

"And to top it all off," Kevin finished, swinging around so his legs dangled from the bunk, "I ran into Mina Sahaku on the way to Tallgeese."

Flay turned to him, eyes wide. "Wait… _you_ brought that thing here? How?"

"My father was involved in the project, ten years ago," he said, shrugging. "And you might as well know: I'm Orb SOCOM, inactive reserve. I'm a qualified conventional pilot, with some mobile suit training." Kevin grimaced. "And a distinct aversion to getting involved in all this, which is why I was attending college, not wearing a uniform."

"Oh…"

Flay was young, sheltered, and a little naïve. Stupid she was not; frightened, she most definitely was. A corner of her mind thought something about that explanation was lacking, but she was too worried about the immediate future to think much of it.

A few hours ago, her future seemed secure. Attending a technical college, with reasonable marks, knowing her father was safe in the heart of Atlantic Federation territory and herself on neutral ground; even her prospects after graduation were being arranged, whatever little doubts she might have about her father meddling quite so deeply into her personal life.

The war was a distant thing, something she had a fair amount of knowledge of intellectually, through her father's position as Assistant Secretary of State, but not something she was staring right in the eye. It was a dreadful thing, yes, but not _her_ concern.

Now Flay was in an unfamiliar environment, her "safe" home ripped away, the only people she could rely on a couple of friends and their acquaintances, including the strange Kevin and the admittedly cute Kira.

That morning, her future was bright. Now, her future seemed entirely likely to be abruptly terminated by particle beams.

The uncomfortable silence lasted for several minutes, each youth brooding on their own private fears. Tolle slid down to Miriallia's side, wrapping a comforting arm around his girlfriend; the two drew some solace from one another, but the others had no such recourse. Kuzzey, a pessimist as it was, was alone with his own fear. Sai and Flay, for all that they had a newfound connection of their own, were not yet quite close enough for that.

Kevin's mind was on the battle ahead, and on a friend he realized could well be on the wrong end of a rifle from him soon. And beyond that, a blonde girl with eyes like his own, a face he'd not seen in several years, a face connected to a deep wound in his soul.

Kira, too, thought of the friend he'd seen in the moments before Heliopolis' destruction, and the course of the next few hours. It was something he feared greatly; already, he'd fought in two battles himself, and wondered anxiously what would come next.

He knew the _Archangel_'s situation, at least in general. He knew ZAFT's available forces were more than a match for what the _Archangel_ had ready, that if they were found now, the odds would be badly against them.

He knew Athrun would almost certainly be one of those trying to destroy them, and that Kevin would be out there opposing the attack.

One way or another, if it came to battle again, the outcome was something Kira feared. If he were to someone get involved again, he would have to fight Athrun; even if he did not, _Kevin_ would have to do so. If neither of them did, they likely would not survive. If both of them did… survival was still far from certain.

Kira Yamato did not want to die. Nor did he want to fight. And at the very heart of the matter, he could not bear the thoughts of his friends dying, any one of them…

A quick rap against the bulkhead next to the compartment broke the dark silence abruptly, and the refugee students looked up gratefully to see Mu La Flaga standing there. "Pardon my interruption," he said, glancing over the obviously downbeat group, "but I thought you might appreciate some news."

"News?" Kuzzey said eagerly, speaking for all of them. Even if it was bad, at least they'd have something _concrete_ to brood about.

"Yeah," Mu confirmed. "We're currently on our way to Artemis; it's a Eurasian military satellite not too far from here. I know it's not a safe haven we can drop you kids off at, but at least it should be _a_ safe haven."

"The Umbrella shield?" Kevin guessed.

The pilot looked at him through narrowed eyes. "You're well informed… though I suppose that's your business. Yes, that's it: if we can make it to Artemis' harbor, ZAFT will pretty much have to give up the pursuit. The only thing known that can penetrate a light-wave barrier is another light-wave barrier, and so far only Eurasia even knows how to make the things."

Kuzzey sighed in audible relief, and the shared smiles between Sai, Tolle, and Miriallia prompted Flay to do the same. It wasn't Orb territory, but right now they'd settle for any port in a storm.

Kira, exchanging a quick glance with Kevin, merely waited for the other shoe to drop.

Mu didn't disappoint. "In the meantime," he continued, "we're settled a couple of other details, in the event we're unable to evade detection. Walker, Petty Officer Murdoch has his hands full repairing my Zero, so Tallgeese could use your attention, if it's to be of any use to us. In particular, he suggested you should make sure its backup power supply is still in working order."

Kevin nodded. Tallgeese predated the N-jammers; as such, its primary energy source was a fission reactor. It had served within the confines of Heliopolis, out of the direct influence of N-jammers, but from here on out it would be useless. Fortunately, Tallgeese's reactor had been an experimental model, not fully trusted; the battery backup would therefore allow it to operate yet, though at decreased capability.

That was not the other shoe, of course.

The lieutenant's gaze next moved to the other Coordinator. "Kira, we'll be counting on your help with your machine."

"…My machine?" Kira stared at him, his earlier doubts now brought to a boiling point by Mu's words. "The Strike…? Wait, what do you mean, _my_ machine?"

Mu shrugged. "Let's just say that's how things worked out."

"Worked out with who?" Kira demanded, stiffening. "Okay, sure, I piloted it twice, but I never agreed to _keep_ doing it! I… I'm not a soldier, okay? And nobody ever asked _me_ about doing this again!"

"Kira…" Mu sighed, placing a hand on the bulkhead. "Look. We may have gotten out of Heliopolis, but we're still in a very nasty situation here. We're nowhere near out of the woods yet, and the fact is you're our best hope; you've taken down two GINNs already, despite not being trained and the second one knowing full well what he was up against. We need your help, kid."

"But I…" Privately, Kira had to admit the lieutenant had a point. Probably a very good one. Yet the fact remained he himself was not a soldier… and that going out there again would mean…

Mu didn't know the exact reasons for Kira's hesitation. He knew nothing of the conflict in the youth's soul, of what, exactly, he was asking of Kira. He didn't know any of that. But while he may not have fully understood Kira's hesitation, Mu did discern the other side of Kira's confliction.

He couldn't honestly say there was no thought of taking advantage of it in his mind, because the fact was that they needed Kira's help; yet it was also with the intent of easing the teenager's inner turmoil that he spoke his next words.

Words that, little though Mu realized it, would shape not only Kira Yamato, but to a large degree the fate of the world.

"Kira," he said gently, "you can fly the Strike. You're the _only_ one who can. That gives you a power here, over this situation… the chance to change things." He looked Kira right in the eye, holding the youth's gaze. "If you have the power to make a difference… why not put it to good use."

Kira met that gaze, unwilling but unable to look away, for several moments… and then, unable to stand there any longer, tore his eyes away and shoved off, pushing past the officer and vanishing around a corner. His friends called out after him, but he could not bring himself to reply. Not then.

After he'd gone, Mu quirked an eyebrow at Kevin. "So. You're the expert: what do you think he'll do?"

"Good question," Kevin admitted, frowning. "With everything that's going on… I'd better go after him. We… need to talk…"

A moment later he, too, was gone, with Mu slipping away himself. That left the other students, including a very confused Flay. "Wait a minute," she protested. "What was that about? That Kira guy… _he_ was piloting that mobile suit? But why? I mean, he's not…"

"Not a soldier," Sai confirmed. "Of course not. But…"

"He's a Coordinator," Kuzzey said bluntly. "Like Kevin."

"Kuzzey!" Tolle said sharply, not liking his friend's tone.

Flay glanced uneasily in the direction Kira had departed. "A… Coordinator? But… Coordinators are…"

"He's a trusted friend," Miriallia said firmly. "Sure he's a Coordinator, but he's always been a good friend. He can pilot a mobile suit, but he doesn't like to, and he did so to protect _us._ It's okay, Flay. He's with us."

Flay nodded in reply, but it was a nervous gesture. Kevin being genetically engineered was no surprise; Flay may have been sheltered, but even she knew eyes like that didn't come about by accident. Orb Special Forces at least meant he was someone who, though perhaps… unnatural, had at least been vetted by someone, and presumably watched carefully.

Kira, though… A Coordinator who lived among Naturals, not calling attention to himself, made her nervous. All her life, she'd heard stories about Coordinators and their abilities, and knew that ZAFT was made up almost entirely of them. And, of course, that well over ninety percent of _all_ Coordinators lived in the PLANTs, the orbital nation rebelling against Terra.

By rights, Kira Yamato should be someone to be feared. By everything she knew. Yet he _seemed_ all right…

"Hm…" Flay murmured to herself, and sank into quiet thought.

* * *

_Vesalius,_ Commander's Office

* * *

Athrun hesitated outside the hatch, tense. He'd known this meeting was coming; and, in fact, was surprised Le Creuset had waited this long. In one sense, he'd been grateful for the reprieve… yet it had also given him too much time to think. To remember the fates of Miguel and Rusty, and the person he'd so unexpectedly encountered within Heliopolis.

He could wait no longer, though, and so Athrun keyed the chime. _"Enter,"_ came the commander's voice, calm as ever.

Athrun stepped inside, stopped before Le Creuset's desk, and came to attention. "Athrun Zala, reporting as ordered, Sir," he said, saluting sharply.

"At ease, Athrun. You're not in any trouble," Le Creuset said soothingly. "I'd merely like an explanation, that's all. I presume you know for what."

"For my launching on my own initiative," the pilot acknowledged, lowering his hand. "I… apologize for my rashness, Commander. I have no excuse."

"Perhaps, perhaps not." The commander lightly tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair. "I must admit to being surprised by your actions, Athrun. Such initiative is not necessarily a bad thing, but this particular expression of it seemed… unusual, coming from you."

Athrun swallowed. He'd debated with himself, long and hard, exactly what he was going to say when the inevitable questions came. At first, he'd wanted to give some lie about being too eager to see for himself what the Earth Forces' new weapons were capable of. To say anything but the truth.

He quickly realized, though, that Le Creuset would see through such a clumsy story immediately. It was common knowledge that Athrun had joined ZAFT because of the Bloody Valentine Tragedy, that there was an element of revenge in his motives, but Le Creuset knew well Athrun was too disciplined to act so impulsively.

So in the end, truth was the course he chose. He did not know what to do, and honesty was not only smart, but might allow his commander to provide him with some advice.

"The truth is, Commander," Athrun began slowly, "I… encountered someone I knew, within Heliopolis. Or I thought I did, anyway. When I in the Morgenröte facility, just before capturing the Aegis, I fought briefly with an Earth Alliance soldier on top of the G-weapon we failed to acquire, and was… interrupted."

Behind his mask, one of Le Creuset's eyebrows went up. "Curious place to meet someone familiar. An old friend from the PLANTs, somehow being here at Heliopolis?"

Athrun shook his head. "Not from the PLANTs, Sir. From Copernicus. You probably know I attended a prep school there, up until three years ago? I… had a couple of very good friends there. One of them was Kira Yamato, and I thought it was somehow him that got between me and the Earth Forces soldier."

Le Creuset nodded slowly. "Meaning this individual was onboard the G-weapon when it defeated Miguel the first time. You went in to confirm that?"

"Yes, Sir."

"And did you?"

He swallowed again. "I did, Sir. Kira was not only aboard the G-weapon, but was probably the one piloting it as of Miguel's defeat. He… definitely was when Miguel was killed."

Another slow nod from Le Creuset, this one very thoughtful. It explained much, the commander mused, both Athrun's uncharacteristic actions and the way the mobile suit had so visibly changed its performance mid-battle, as if someone else had taken over from the original pilot.

Though it still left one question…

"That's very impressive for a Natural," the masked commander said quietly. "Your friend must be an exceptional individual, Athrun."

"He is, Commander," Athrun agreed. "But… he's not a Natural. He's a Coordinator, like us."

And just like that, the final piece fell into place. Athrun's hesitation, his discomfort even after admitting to the friend's involvement, and the mobile suit's surprising improvement in performance. An old -and clearly close- friend of Athrun's, and a Coordinator… fighting for the Earth Forces.

On top of which, Le Creuset thought to himself, there was something about the name. _Kira Yamato… it sounds… familiar…_

"Very well, Athrun," he said at length. "As I said at the start, you're not in any trouble for this, and all the more now that I know your reasons. You've been put in a very difficult position, facing your friend on opposite sides of a battlefield." Le Creuset leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. "Naturally, I'll not have you to participate in the coming battle. I can't ask someone to fight such a close friend."

To his surprise, Athrun shook his head, a pleading look on his face. "Sir, please… I _would_ like to be involved in the next sortie. I… If I talk to him, I'm sure I can bring Kira around. I know him! He wouldn't be doing something like this willingly. If I explain to him that there's another way…"

It was the only answer Athrun had been able to come up with, after his hours of thought. That Kira had, in some fashion, been forced into his current position, fighting for the Earth Alliance against his will. The Kira he knew would never do so if he had a choice; of the three of them, only Kevin had been anything resembling a fighter.

And this option meant Athrun could still salvage things before they reached the point of no return.

Le Creuset leaned back in his chair, considering. "Obtaining the final G-weapon, rather than destroying it, would certainly be a welcome outcome," he mused. "And I have no objections to your attempting to save your friend, Athrun. But I have to ask this: what happens if you cannot convince him?"

Athrun tensed, hands clenching involuntarily. This was something he didn't want to face… but one way or another, there was only one answer. "Then I'll shoot him down myself." _Better it be me, than a stranger… But it won't come to that! It _can't_ come to that!_

The commander considered that a few moments more, then nodded. "Very well. You have permission to make the attempt; and your bold words aside, I'll do my best to see that the final decision does not rest on your shoulders." He paused, recalling something Athrun had said earlier. "Before you go… What with the interesting coincidences we've already seen in this operation, I feel I should ask: is there any possibility the other friend you mentioned was present during the attack?"

_I've been asking myself that question from the moment the operation started._ "I have to admit it's possible," Athrun admitted, frowning. "I was never entirely clear on his background, but I got the impression he was from a relatively important family in Orb. I came back to the PLANTs when tensions grew, and thought Kira was going to do the same, but I wouldn't be too surprised if Kevin were here."

Eyes hidden behind his mask, Le Creuset blinked, and glanced sidelong at a slight distortion in the air near a bulkhead to his right. It shifted slightly, and he knew the hidden man had also caught the name.

"Could he be in a similar position to this Kira?" Le Creuset asked quietly. "On the battlefield, against us?"

Athrun shrugged uneasily. "I… doubt it. Honestly, Commander, Kevin disappeared about a year before Kira and I left Copernicus, so I don't actually know what happened to him. But I don't see how he could in a combat position; he's a Coordinator too, and a weird one. Really slow maturation. If he was still aging at the rate I remember, I don't think he'd be capable of piloting a mobile suit at this stage."

"Mm…" Le Creuset exchanged another glance with empty air, then shrugged. "Well. It may be something to bear in mind, but for now, I'll take your word for it. At any rate, you have permission to proceed as you requested, and I suggest you get some rest while you can. One way or another, this is not going to be easy."

"Thank you, Sir." Athrun saluted again, and, feeling relieved on one hand and yet oddly disquieted on the other, took his leave.

Once he was gone, Le Creuset turned his attention to the distortion, which resolved itself into Invictus' armor. "Well? Your opinion?"

"The friend he cited was Hydra," Invictus stated, appearing uneasy himself. "Kevin Walker was the alias he used at Copernicus, and I happen to know the two of them were acquainted."

"And the likelihood of him being here?"

The assassin turned to face Le Creuset directly. "He is. I reviewed radio traffic from the last moments of the last engagement. A brief, anomalous transmission matched his voiceprint."

The commander steepled his fingers. "You indicated he had access to Tallgeese… and we both know he has the physical capabilities required. Hm. Let us hope, then, that we strike before they succeed in readying the unit."

"Affirm. Though Kira Yamato will be a greater threat, if I'm correct." Invictus may have been covered in featureless armor, but his unease was quite plain. "My knowledge of him is not nearly as current as of Hydra, but I know this, Commander: Kira Yamato's learning curve is frighteningly steep. If Athrun does not succeed now, we may never."

* * *

_Archangel,_ Hangar

* * *

It was a face that might not have been out of place on a Medieval knight, like the armor protecting a warrior's face in the heat of battle. Still and silent now, it seemed almost noble, benevolent… a sharp contrast to what it had been made to do.

Others might find comfort in the face of GAT-X105 Strike. Kira Yamato looked into its dimmed eyes, and saw a turbulent future. A future of uncertainty… of pain. Of choices he did not want to make, now or ever.

He floated a meter above the catwalk providing access to the mobile suit's hatch, staring into the face of the machine that had both torn his home away, and given him the power to protect what remained of it. That which had helped him defend one friend, and put him in conflict with another.

Kira didn't have to look around to detect the other presence. He always knew when the other was there, felt it on a level deeper than conscious. "Athrun was out there today," he said quietly, not taking his eyes from the Strike.

"I know," Kevin replied, equally quiet. Drifting along the catwalk, he caught the railing and swung to a halt at Kira's side. "I heard the transmission."

"…You were using combat drugs, back when those soldiers attacked us."

The sandy-haired youth took the apparent shift in topic in stride. "I was," he acknowledged.

"You wrote a report for school about those things, years ago," Kira said conversationally. "You pointed out how dangerous they were. Increased battlefield performance, but highly addictive, and with dangerous withdrawal symptoms." He turned to face his friend. "You used them anyway."

"Janus," Kevin said, turning his own gaze to the Strike. "Binary drug, combines Hermeticus and Accel, for enhanced reflexes and synaptic rate. Normally one hundred percent addiction rate, and near-fatal withdrawal; the difference is that the people who made me created Retro, a counteragent negates the withdrawal. My kind is highly resistant to addiction."

These were waters they'd never discussed much in the past. Kevin had always been vague about his whereabouts and activities after his disappearance, and Kira had never thought it necessary to press for details. They were safe; if Kevin wanted to put the past behind him, there was no reason for Kira to quibble.

Now things had changed, and Kira needed to know. To have some answers… for his own sake.

"What did they do to you?" he said, voice almost a whisper. "Four years ago, you still looked twelve. You shouldn't have aged more than a year since then. Back then, you couldn't do the things I've seen you do. Not even a zoanthrope could do those things." He gripped Kevin's shoulder. "What _are_ you?"

"You don't want to know. Not if you want to sleep at night."

"If I want to sleep at night, I need to _understand,_ Kevin!" Kira said with sudden intensity. "What are you? How do you _cope_ with it all? I have to know! Dammit, Kevin, I don't know what to _do_ now!"

Kevin blinked, turning to meet Kira's eyes for the first time. Despite the unnatural glow in his own jade eyes, Kira met the gaze unflinchingly, desperate and unyielding. It was a look Kevin had never expected to see there. And it was a look that demanded an answer.

"…I am a weapon," the black-clad youth said slowly. "You know I was altered. You couldn't have failed to notice when we met again, and of course you made a very telling request before you launched last time." Kevin turned fully. "Four years ago, I was taken. I was changed. I became a weapon… and then the makers of the weapon I became were killed. Part machine since that time, I found meaning only on the battlefield. I fought in Heaven's War.

"I never wanted to fight again."

Kira swallowed. He'd suspected some of that, knew already his friend's body was no longer fully human. He'd never known it had been forced. Kira had assumed Kevin's reticence was a product of Heaven's War, thought his change in attitude was a product of the horrors he must've witnessed there.

This cast a more sinister light on it… and seemed to take them farther from answering the question Kira so desperately needed solved.

"Then why did you jump into things at Heliopolis? I know you, Kevin. You were heading for a fight the moment you realized what was going. If you hate to fight, why?"

"I _like_ to fight," Kevin corrected, gloved hand tightening its grip on the catwalk railing. "I don't like being put in a position where I have to _kill._ I do it all too easily, Kira. They made sure of that. But why did I put myself in that position anyway?" He shook his head. "Because someone had to. And if someone had to do it, better it be one whose hands are already indelibly stained with blood."

"Were you immediately heading for Tallgeese?" Kira glanced at the white behemoth beside the Strike. "Were you trying to protect the colony?"

"Nyet," the other admitted. "I wanted answers at first; that little tussle we had on the way to the factory floor just reminded me of my own nature. I told you: fighting is how I find meaning. But Tallgeese was meant for me to escape." He traced a line down his face, over his right eye; Kira suspected the motion of being unconscious. "I break things, Kira. I can't create; I can only destroy. But this one time, I was hoping to do something else. There's… someone out there who needs me. Someone only I can help."

Kira caught Kevin's significant glance at the Strike. "I know what you're saying," he murmured, almost inaudibly. "I think I knew even before I asked. The Lieutenant said it too, didn't he?" He locked gazes with the mobile suit again. "You've got the power to make a difference for one person. You're saying… I have the power to help everyone here, aren't you?"

"I don't think I need to say that, do I?" It was Kevin's turn to place a hand on Kira's shoulder. "I'm going to do my part here. But Tallgeese is a wild horse, and one not yet ready for this kind of battle. Me? I only know how to go on the offensive. I was never trained to fight a defensive battle. My instincts are all about search and destroy, not defending a friendly."

Kira closed his eyes. He didn't like what he was hearing. Didn't like where those thoughts led. Whether he'd known the nature of Kevin's metamorphosis, he'd known what it cost him. _Only found meaning on the battlefield…_

It was a path he desperately wanted to avoid. A grim reality he never, ever wanted to face. Yet it seemed to be the reality staring him right in the eyes now. Something he could barely deny.

But for one thing, he might've accepted it right then. The other conundrum, the terrible trick of Fate, still remained.

"Athrun is going to be out there again," Kira said. "I don't know why he's here, but he controls one of the G-weapons. If we fight… we might have to fight him, too."

Kevin winced. "I know. Believe me, Kira, I don't like it either. And it's gonna be hard; I won't kill him, but I really don't know _how_ to fight that way." He pulled his shades on again, concealing what the more poetic called the "windows to the soul" once more. "There's no good option here, Kira. I don't want to face Athrun…"

"…But if we don't face him, he and his comrades kill everyone on this ship," Kira finished heavily. "Including those people I brought here for 'safety'." He turned back to Kevin. "…You're with me, right?"

Kevin reached out and gripped Kira's forearm. "Every step of the way, tovarisch. Till you and the other civvies are safe, and I can do what I have to."

Kira wondered what the other's mysterious goal was, but only distantly. It didn't matter now. What mattered was the task that had fallen to them, whether they wanted it or not. To the reality that without them -without _Kira_- everything would be lost.

He'd taken control of the Strike once to save his friends. He'd climbed back in to do so again. Now he'd do so one more time, being the shield they could not, being the sword the _Archangel_ could not herself provide.

As the two pilots looked to their respective machines, confident at least in their own solidarity, neither really saw the mobile suits. Just a face… a face from long ago, once a faithful friend, now perhaps a deadly foe…

* * *

_Archangel,_ Bridge

* * *

Five hours gone, and all was still quiet. Five hours since kicking loose the decoy to lead the ZAFT pursuers in the wrong direction, and no sign yet that their deception had been penetrated. Another hour, perhaps two, and attacking _Archangel_ would be suicide; even if the ship had difficulties identifying herself, Artemis would not tolerate ZAFT aggression within their defense zone.

The mood on the bridge was tense anyway. All the surviving officers had lived through terrible battles -Murrue through the conflicts that led to Yggdrasil's fall, Mu through Endymion and Bowman Station, Natarle through Heaven's War- and knew entirely too well how quickly a situation could go straight to hell.

"I gather you spoke to Kira earlier?" Murrue said quietly, more to fill the silence than anything else.

Mu, standing to the right of her command chair, nodded. "Yeah. Gave him and his friends a head's up on the current situation; Kira needs it, and I figured the other kids had a right to know."

She suspected Natarle took issue with that last point, but if the ensign did, she didn't deign to exit CIC to make her opinion known. "Do you think he'll do it? Pilot the Strike for us again? We've already put him through so much…"

He shrugged. "No guarantees," he admitted. "But… yeah, I think he will. I don't think he likes us very much right now, but he's a smart kid; he knows the stakes. And for somebody who hates the idea of being a soldier, he seems pretty big on protecting his friends. If there's some way he can make a difference, I don't think he'll pass it up."

Murrue nodded. That fit with her own observations of the young Coordinator; however much he may have protested being forced into the cockpit again, Kira _had_ taken the initiative in assuming control of the Strike the first time. His own life had been in little danger, phase-shift armor preventing the GINN from inflicting any damage… yet the moment he noticed his friends were present, he took control of the battle.

Decisively.

_He has talent,_ she mused. _An incredible amount of it… I didn't think even a Coordinator could rewrite an entire operating system in so short a time. And doing so in a machine he'd never even _known_ about just a few minutes before…_

Murrue wasn't sanguine about putting a child in charge of defending the _Archangel._ It was a job for trained soldiers, not a college student who didn't even want to be there. But if she had to do it anyway, she was as certain about Kira's abilities as she could be.

_Which reminds me…_

She glanced down into CIC. "Any word on Tallgeese's status, Ensign?"

"Just a brief status report from Kevin," Natarle replied, glancing over at the console devoted to mobile weapon operations. "He indicated the OS problem has been taken care of, and that basic systems were fully operational. Mister Murdoch is just now finishing repairs to the Zero, however, so no idea when proper weapons will be ready for Tallgeese."

"So it's up to me and the kid, then," Mu mused; he didn't seem perturbed by the thought. "That's _if_ anything happens, of course-"

"Excuse me, Captain," interrupted the crewman operating the ships various sensors; Petty Officer 2nd Class Jackie Tonomura, Mu reminded himself. "I've got a contact at three o'clock, approximately on level with us."

Murrue's gut tightened. "Type?" She hoped it was a patrol from Artemis, perhaps something that received word on Heliopolis' destruction, but under the current circumstances…

"Thermopattern consistent with _Nazca_-class, Ma'am," Tonomura answered, confirming her fears. "The same one that was outside Heliopolis."

"Damn," Mu muttered. "Le Creuset… I was afraid he wouldn't be fooled."

"Le Creuset had two ships," Murrue said sharply. "He wouldn't have come here just with the _Nazca._ Omni-directional search: find me the other ship!"

The only sound for several moments was Tonomura's fingers flying across his console, hurriedly checking over every possible signature within range of _Archangel_'s radar and heat sensors. It was not a lengthy task.

"Heat signature directly astern, Captain," he said tightly. _"Laurasia_-class, just coming out of silent running."

Murrue closed her eyes. So the enemy had not only anticipated their moves, but had adapted the same tactics for their own use. If she'd doubted Mu's insistence that it was Rau Le Creuset before, she did no longer; such deviousness was entirely typical of the ZAFT commander.

Now to see if she could out-gambit him.

"All hands to Level One Battlestations," she ordered. "Lieutenant La Flaga, I need a moment of your time; I have an idea…"

Mu raised an eyebrow, leaning closer, and alarms began to sound throughout the ship.

* * *

_Archangel,_ Enlisted Quarters

* * *

"_All hands to Level One Battlestations! All hands to Level One Battlestations!"_

The group of students from Heliopolis looked up as the announcement rang out over the ship's PA system. There was a flurry of activity outside the small compartment, the painfully shorthanded crew rushing to deal with the emergency.

"I guess there's another battle starting," Kuzzey murmured, knowing it was obvious but unable to think of anything else to say.

"Looks that way," Sai agreed soberly. "I guess we didn't get away as cleanly as we thought."

"No sign of Kira or Kevin, either," Tolle remarked, slumped against one of the bunks. "They're probably gonna be fighting, huh? Protecting us again…"

Silence fell. None of them liked to contemplate the reality they were in, the possibility of sudden, violent death… the fact that two of their friends were going to not merely contemplate the situation, but go out and meet it head on.

Those two were going out to fight, to take the fear ZAFT inflicted on them, and throw it back into the enemy's face.

_And we're just… No. No, it's not going to be like that this time._

Miriallia abruptly stood, startling Tolle. "I'm not going to just sit here," she announced. "Kira and Kevin are going to be out there, risking their lives for our sake; they're _doing_ something about this. I'm not going to just sit and do nothing."

Kuzzey stared at her like she'd grown cat ears and a tail. "Huh? But wait a minute! What can any of _us_ do in a situation like this?"

She speared him with a look sharper than even Tolle had realized she could produce. "We're all in danger anyway," she told him firmly. "Even if we don't do anything, we're just as likely to die here. So I say we do our part, contribute _something_ to save ourselves. What can we do? Look around, Kuzzey! More than half this ship's crew died before they could even get onboard!"

Sai slowly smiled, realizing what she was getting at. "This is a state of the art ship, undermanned… and we're all tech students."

Tolle brightened. "You're right… There _is_ something we can do! Maybe we can't go out there and fight, but we can at least help with the _ship's_ operations!"

Flay, silent up to this point, held back, feeling disconnected from the group dynamic she was only peripherally connected to. She had known Miriallia for a couple of years, had newfound connections with Sai, but she was not truly part of their group yet.

Maybe someday…

The other four, oblivious to Flay's uneasiness, shared a look… and after a moment, even the more reluctant Kuzzey nodded in agreement.

They were not pilots or soldiers. That didn't mean there was nothing they could do…

* * *

_Archangel,_ Pilots' Locker Room

* * *

Mu was not altogether surprised when, in the process of donning his distinctive violet and white flight suit, Kira Yamato walked into the compartment, already wearing the mostly blue version of the same outfit, the colors intended for use by the G-weapon pilots. Still in the process of fastening the suit, Kira didn't look happy, but neither did he look as angry as Mu might've expected.

"So, you've decided?" the Lieutenant asked quietly.

Kira nodded. "You're right, Lieutenant. If I've got the power to make a difference, I can't just sit around and do nothing." Opening one of the lockers, he pulled out a helmet matching his flightsuit, and tucked it under one arm. "We're the only ones who can protect this ship, right?"

Mu looked at him sidelong. "You do realize this battle may not be the end of it?"

Another, slower nod. "I do. No more complaints from me here on out, Lieutenant. Until we reach safe territory and my friends and I can leave, I'll do my part."

Mu frowned thoughtfully. That was a more mature response than he'd really expected; he wondered now if the Coordinator had already thought, deep down, that he might have to do this, and that his protests so far had been more denial than anything else.

"And your friend?" he asked, for wont of something better to say.

"I go where he does, for now," Kevin replied, entering the locker room himself. "Till we reach Earth. After that, I've got overdo business of my own… but for now? I've got a healthy sense of self-preservation, and a dislike of my friends being shot at."

"Hm." Mu gave him an appraising glance. "Good to know… Nice suit, by the way."

Kira also glanced curiously at the soldier, and blinked at the outfit he wore. Predictably black -Kira couldn't remember seeing Kevin in any other color- but it was clearly _not_ a borrowed Earth Alliance flight suit the way Kira's was. It reminded him slightly of those he'd seen on the ZAFT soldiers they'd encountered at Heliopolis, but bulkier, and with no insignia, though lighter patches remained, suggesting that such had been removed.

"Gear from when I was active-duty," Kevin explained with a shrug. "Made for high-G flight operations; it should help me handle Tallgeese."

Mu nodded. "Makes sense… Okay, you guys both know the plan, right? I'm going out first, then you, Kira. Walker, Murdoch is still working on modding spare weaponry, so you'll be staying here for now. I know Tallgeese already has a beam saber, but considering how much of a wild horse it is, I don't think any of us want to bet on it in close combat."

"Affirm."

The elder pilot turned, laying a hand on Kira's shoulder. "I know this is going to be tough, Kira. Just stick with the plan, and you'll be fine. I know you can do this."

Kira swallowed, thinking about the one aspect of the coming battle the Lieutenant did _not_ know about, the complication that his words did little to calm his nerves regarding. "I understand, Lieutenant."

"Right. Let's get moving."

* * *

_Vesalius,_ Bridge

* * *

"Legged Ship has altered course, Captain. I think they've noticed us."

"Understood." Ades looked over at his commander. "Sir?"

Le Creuset nodded. "If we've timed this right, the only unit they'll be able to send out is the G-weapon; they shouldn't have had time to repair the Zero, much less prepare Tallgeese… Excellent. Signal the _Gamow:_ prepare to engage, and launch the G-weapons."

"Yes, Sir." Ades turned to the communications officer, and began relaying the instructions.

The masked commander punched a button on his armrest. "Launch deck: Andrei, you're out first. Hang back and keep an eye out for surprises, particularly the possibility of the Legged Ship launching its other mobile weapons."

"_Yes, Sir!"_ the team's sole surviving GINN pilot responded smartly. On the one hand, being relegated to support while the younger members of the team went on the offensive rankled. On the other… Andrei Simonov remembered the single G-weapon remaining in enemy hands had defeated the Magic Bullet of Dusk twice, the second time fatally.

"Athrun," Le Creuset continued, "are you ready?"

"_Yes, Commander,"_ Athrun replied, from Aegis' cockpit. To his credit, Le Creuset only recognized the tension in the pilot's voice because he knew to listen for it.

"Remember what I said, Athrun… and good luck."

"_Thank you, Commander."_ Through the forward viewports, Simonov's GINN could be seen hurtling out into space, and several decks below the bridge the Aegis would now be moving to take its place.

"_Athrun Zala… Aegis, launching!"_

Standing beside the bridge's hatch, Invictus watched the G-weapon launch with studied -and elaborately faked- calm. _So it begins… Athrun, Kira, and Kevin, all in the same place, with conflicting agendas. Crud, but this is _bad.

* * *

_Marie Curie,_ Hangar

* * *

It was something of an odd fit; the X-9 Ghost had never been intended as a manned weapon, so the cockpit was, by necessity, somewhat awkward. Indeed, a full-sized cockpit would've been out of the question. There was too little room to spare for full controls and instrumentation.

The Boss did not care. Fitted into the snug pilot's couch, he gripped the armrests and looked into the displays of his featureless helmet, inhumanly still and calm. "Status, Lance?" he asked.

"_It's starting,"_ Lance replied from the bridge. _"The Legged Ship is beginning to maneuver, and both _Vesalius _and _Gamow_ are deploying mobile suits."_ He paused. _"No sign yet of mobile weapon launch from the Legged Ship."_

"Biding their time," the Boss murmured. "Someone on that ship has a brain; they know they can't win a straight-up fight, even if they manage to deploy all their mobile weapons… Keep watching, Lance. This battle doesn't interest me unless and until Tallgeese enters the engagement."

"_Understood, Boss. I'll keep you informed."_

_

* * *

_

_Archangel,_ Hangar/Catapult Decks

* * *

Kira settled into the Strike's cockpit one more time, feeling tense yet also, oddly, liberated. He wasn't looking forward to what he was about to do. In fact, he was quite frightened by it, even leaving aside the likelihood of fighting Athrun. Holding off a single GINN was one thing; taking on all four stolen G-weapons was something else entirely.

_If it all goes according to plan, you won't have to do it for long,_ he reminded himself, taking a deep breath. _The Lieutenant's attack will give them something else to worry about, and if things go on too long, Kevin will be out there, too. I don't have to outfight all of them, just hold them off for a little while…_

He wasn't looking forward to this, but at least he'd made a firm decision. Having made his choice to keep flying, Kira at least no longer had any uncertainty as to his course; now his only concern was how to make his wish reality, not what his wish _was._

Keeping that firmly in mind, Kira checked his helmet seals, fastened his restraints, and began the Strike's startup sequence. It was, perhaps unfortunately, becoming an old habit already, but he supposed that was a good thing as far as his chances of survival were concerned. With a mental shrug, he finished the main activation sequence, bringing its connections with the ship live.

"_Beginning launch operations,"_ an unexpected voice said over his link with the bridge. _"M__ö__bius Zero, move to port catapult. Strike, you read?"_

Kira stared in surprise at the image that appeared on one of his comm displays. "Miriallia?" he blurted, startled by the sight of her in a pink Earth Alliance uniform. "What are you…?"

She smiled. _"We decided we couldn't just let you do all the work. Tolle, Sai, and Kuzzey are up here, too; we'll be supporting the _Archangel_'s operations from here on. And I'll be supporting _you_ directly, supervising flight control."_ Miriallia adjusted her headset, obviously still unused to the device's presence.

"_Anyway. Standby; we'll be moving you to the starboard catapult shortly."_

"…Roger that." Kira summoned a smile in response, despite his own confusion. "And… thanks." Strangely, he felt some of the weight lift off his shoulders at this show of support; after the revelation of his Coordinator status, he'd been half afraid of how his friends would react. Now he knew: they were still with him…

"All right, kid," Mu called, from the Möbius Zero. "Remember what I said: stay calm, and follow the plan. I'll see you in space… Bridge? Mu La Flaga, launching!"

A faint vibration heralded the massive acceleration the catapult imparted to the mobile armor, and on his monitors Kira could see the Zero rocket out into open space, heading out on its own part of the mission. They were still outside optimal sensor range -they hoped- of the enemy _Nazca…_

Taking a few more deep breaths to steady himself, Kira closed his eyes, waiting for his own launch; as he did, though, something nagged at the edge of his mind, as if there was something he'd forgotten. Something he was supposed to do, or say.

A flash of golden hair went past his mind's eye, prompting recall and Kira's activation of his link with the _Archangel_'s other remaining mobile weapon. "Hey, Kevin?"

"Right here, tovarisch," Kevin replied; his response was slightly distracted, and Kira could see he was making some last-minute adjustments to Tallgeese's OS, while Murdoch's people labored around it.

"Something up?"

Kira nodded. "You remember that girl we met on Heliopolis? The one we followed into the factory?"

"…Kind of hard to forget," the other allowed, a shadow crossing his face. "What with the way she talked about me. What about her?"

"Just as she was going down into the shelter, she asked me to tell you something." Kira paused. "She said, 'Tell Kevin that I'm Cagalli,'. I'm assuming that was her name… Does it mean anything to you?"

There was a long pause from the other machine. Kevin's eyes were closed, mind working furiously, struggling against the haze that still obscured portions of his memory. _That name… I know I've heard it somewhere, but who…?_

"There's something else," Kira said, interrupted the reverie as another scrap of memory drifted to mind. "She was wearing a ring that looked just like yours."

Kevin's breath hitched, and a flash of memory was accompanied by a moment of blinding pain in his head… and then it was gone again. Gone, but leaving a little more behind than had been there a minute before…

"…I think I know her," he said at length. "I just… can't remember…" Kevin shook himself. "No time for that now. Once we're through this battle, I'll think about it. It's probably important, but this comes first."

Kira was about to reply in agreement, but Miriallia's voice beat him to it. _"All right, Kira. It's time. Moving to starboard catapult."_

With a muted thump and a rumble, the mobile suit was carried smoothly forward, out of the hangar and into one of the _Archangel_'s powerful catapults. With another thump, the hangar machinery released it, the catapult mechanisms taking it in turn.

"_Connected to catapult,"_ Miriallia announced. _"APU activated. Connecting Aile Striker pack."_

Hatches in the bulkheads and overhead plating of the catapult opened, permitting armatures to connect the massive Aile thruster unit to the Strike's back, and place beam rifle and shield in hand. Going from basic to equipped with greater mobility, a rifle and shield, and beam sabers, Kira suspected this loadout would prove more versatile than those he'd used before.

"_Systems, all green. You're clear, Strike."_ Miriallia paused. _"Good luck out there, Kira."_

"Thanks, Miriallia." Kira swallowed, tightened his grip on the controls, and stared resolutely out his displays. "Kira Yamato… launching!"

GAT-X105 Strike hurtled forward, gripped by electromagnetic force to be hurled into the void of space… and the coming maelstrom of combat.

* * *

Author's note:

* * *

The student has taken the first step on the road to being a protector, and to finding his destiny. The knight seeks understanding, and reconciliation. The soldier sees the first glimmerings of his own hidden past, and perhaps of his future… And far away, a shadow seeks her own objective, her Fate yet to be revealed…

Well. So much for my hope of getting this ready as quickly as the last one; this isn't quite as bad as the delay for Chapter II, but almost… In my defense, this has been a _very_ stressful year for me, making inspiration rare and hard to grasp. And, as I've noted in previous chapters, this part of the series always gives me trouble.

I can say for certain this time that there's going to be a delay before the next chapter, so I thought I'd give everybody a head's up for once. I'm going to be moving in the near future, so I'm going to be a bit busy… Also, I can't promise that my next update will be for this story. I've had a _Persona_ fic in the works for almost a year now, and I want to finally make some progress with that; fact is, I've done _nothing_ but _Gundam SEED_ fics for a good five years now, so I think I could use a little variety.

Not to say I'm abandoning this or anything, obviously. Current circumstances and other projects aside, I don't intend to leave this hanging for another six months. It's just going to be a bit of a juggle, that's all.

Anyway. Think that's everything, so let me know just how much this was -or, probably, wasn't- worth the wait. -Solid


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